you are my hero. *hugs*

You are a brave and good person for sharing. Thank you

Ah, the “never just one” thing. I can’t tell you how much I envy the people who can have “just one.” It’s incomprehensible! I get that question a lot too. Good on you, girl. I have a year without hiding vodka bottles on Feb.17, and I fist-bump you proudly.

Aaaw, *hugs* we’re very proud of you! You’re awesome, and a great mom!

Every stupid thing I have done in my life (except marry my first wife) was made while I was drunk.

What a tremendous and honest and awesome post. This is why you are one of my FAVORITE people to read. You just tell it and don’t hide. Thank you.

*wow* what a special insight…
Very solid individual who can share something so personal.

i’ve been reading since 2003, and it has been sort of amazing watching the life you’ve created for yourself, post-drinking. bravo for telling the story here.

This is all sorts of awesome, Linda. My Mom is an alcoholic (not recovering) and I fear that I will somehow cross the line someday.

Thank you for your honesty.

I’ve been reading you for a long time now so I have read the posts where you go into more detail.

I will tell you, as a child of alcoholic parents, being sober is the best gift you could ever give your children. I am so glad that they will never know the drunk Linda.

wow, what a journey! Thank you for sharing, if you ever feel up to telling more, like what effect this had on your relationships and how different your life is now, I’d definitely be interested in hearing. I have a love interest who drinks a lot, makes me…cautious.

Linda,

Thank You.

Kellie

Wow, it never really occured to me that you might not drink…you continually exude, through your writing & photos, a passion for life. I never thought something was missing from your online personality. You seem so happy and vivacious usually, high on life & family…and really, what else does one need?

I was already a big fan of yours, but now just moreso! Your posts are real, and I appreciate it…I think the blogosphere needs more people like you!

I been reading for a LONGISH time and your original post on this topic is one of my most favorite that you have ever written!

Although, I seriously can’t believe that people you don’t even know IRL are inquiring as to why you don’t drink. That just seems like too much of a personal question and I’d never even ask that of someone I see on a regular basis. But that’s just me…

Kudos to you for owning your mistakes. I have a family member who hasn’t/won’t; watching, waiting, hoping he’ll *finally* hit bottom so he’ll GET it is heartbreaking. Thank you for sharing.

You are strong and inspirational on so many levels Linda. I am hopeful someone who needs this post, finds it.

You are so refreshingly, awesomely honest. You know that’s why you have so many loyal readers who adore you.

Good on ya.

I appreciate your honesty! I was/am an addict. I was 24 when my dad died of cancer. He was the center of my universe and I didn’t know how to function without him. I found a way to dull the pain, to keep going so that I didn’t have to stop and feel. But then I almost died and I thought, “Hey stupid! Is this what your life is supposed to be?” I stopped. And now I have two beautiful boys and a life I cherish. And you to read and make me laugh/cry/blah/blah/blah! Thanks!

I have been lurking for a long time, i love your blog… but this post i feel deserves a click through to actually comment rather than just reading on my reader.
I am sure alcoholism is tough, I can not imagine… but I was already inspired what you have done with yourself in the past year… now I am forced to jump on the bandwagon and take care of myself… and now I have to stop avoiding your new site — thanks for inspiring by telling it like it is all the time. :)

You are brave and you are my hero. Thank you sharing your story.

Thanks for sharing Linda. Addiction is a scary place and the statistics are stacked against most. Your words have no doubt helped someone who’s suffering.

Christine

I have been reading you for awhile now, and you literally make me laugh, out loud, almost each day, and just plain wish I lived in your neighborhood and could somehow brush up against your vast amazingness.

I grew up with an alcoholic father and he has been sober for just over 2 years. Your post today reminded me what a blessing it is to have him here and recovering.

Slightly afraid of sounding like a stalker, I will sum up with this: it’s a pleasure to find you (in all your various forms) on the internet, and you inspire me with your delightful life.

In my mother’s hey day, you almost got a badge of honour for drinking and driving. It was customary to have a flask under the seat or in one’s purse. (The age of Mad Men.)

Police setting up road blocks or stopping drivers was unheard of.

If only I could turn back time. She quit too late to save herself and reverse the damage to her family. In the end she succumbed to a terrible cancer caused in large part by drinking. The fact that she quit 25 years before its onset didn’t prevent it.

I forgive her because I understand how hard it was and how little support there was and how many enablers she had; people pouring, buying, and encouraging her to drink at social events. Many of them knew she was an alcoholic. She couldn’t say no without having to explain herself half the time because they were so insistent. The shame belongs to a lot of those folks.

Many people start drinking because it’s calming and stress relieving. Eventually it becomes a necessity. And like any habit, it’s ridiculously hard to stop.

Kudos for making the right choice and not being afraid to talk about this very common issue. You’re making a difference in someone’s life.

Hi Linda. I guess I’ve been reading your blog long enough (since before Riley was a sucktopus)to know your story. Your openness and honesty is admirable. Is it still difficult to talk about even after all these years? How does/did JB cope with your addiction?

I’m proud of you.

Thank you so much for sharing parts of your life including the ones that aren’t so easy to read about. I know it helps me look at some of the things I have a difficult time with and try to make some sense of it all. You are an inspiration,a wonderful writer, and a good parent.

I really love your blog (without sounding too much like a scary stalker) and this post was wonderful. I think you are very brave. My Dad was an alcoholic and he, like Anne Lamott would have done, lost everything. My Mum left him and he continued to drink until he died very suddenly of heart failure at 54. I was 22 and left to deal with everything surrounding his funeral. Not a nice thing to do.

As my kids would say “two thumbs up” for the not drinking!

thanks for being so brave and continuing to share. I read ‘Cleaning Up’ by Tania Glyde, if youre interested in stories about peoples journeys on this subject.
Your boys will be so proud reading this one day.

Yeah, now if we could only get you to quit smoking crack and going to raves, our mission in life would be done.
I’m just kidding, you have all the balls in the world, and speaking as the kid of an alky, remember how bad you felt when you yelled at Riley the other day? Imagine doing that everyday, and then not remembering. That’s what their lives would be like, and the uncertainty of not knowing when mom would be like that is the worst part of it all. Living your entire life on eggshells. It’s fucked up, but you aren’t. You go girl.
PS, I have a friend who is awaiting trial for hitting a guy on a motorcycle and killing him while drinking and driving, and he has a kid Riley’s age. His life is done.

it’s really great to see someone owning their past in such an honest way. sounds like you got the wake up call you needed at the right time, and you’ve turned your life into something great.

Linda,
As always I’m blown away by your bravery. Thanks for sharing.

Wow! Thanks for sharing your story. I have to second “Pete” up near the top of the comments – just about every stupid thing I did in the past involved alcohol.
I was a Party Girl and then I had my son and my sister told me “it doesn’t matter how shitty you feel the next morning, your son is going to want YOU” and for me, that was enough to change my ways. My husband on the other hand, took a little longer…but he’s good now.

Linda, I’ve been reading you since the diaryland days, and I can tell you that even your writing is clearer, more meaningful, richer, and funnier. You have a remarkable clarity of being that is obvious even to those of us who only know you from the Internet. I am so proud of you and what you have accomplished and you should be SO PROUD of yourself.

you rock! (btw, you shouldn’t feel nervous about writing this. you know you’ve already helped a bunch of people who are going through the same thing, just with writing about your own experiences with drinking.)

Linda, you are awesome. I have been reading you for awhile now and know about your past from what you have told us. It is amazing what you have overcome, amazing.

Loved your post! “Operating Instructions” is one of my all time favorite books and I remember that passage that you quote very clearly.

Linda, I admire you so much for the raw honesty it takes to put this out there. Thank you for sharing again these personal details of yourself.

I remember reading that post where you detailed the DUI and jail and being pregnant. I remember being just amazed at how your wrote about it- I could feel your shame and embarrassment in your words but at the same time it was so theraputic for you to get it down on paper and get it out of your head. Your tone here is so awesome. You have moved on from all that and you are such a different person now. You took your addiction to alcohol and switched it to your health and WOW!
Well done my friend.

I remember when you wrote about this initially, and I’ll tell you again.

Thanks for taking care of this before your kids are old enough to remember. My husband has been sober for eight years now, but my kids were old enough to know, and there are still scars….

*Smooch

Kim

While I never had the problem of stopping I did stop myself one day in my early 20’s and asked myself WHY I drank (on the weekends, where I would wake up Sunday at noon and have my friends fill in the huge gaps while laughing their asses off) and I decided I didn’t really LIKE alcohol. The only reason I was drinking was to get rip-roaring drunk. Kudos to you for not only getting your life back on track but for doing it for YOU (i.e. before you got pregnant).

Crap, did any of that come out right?

You know, I said it the first time you told this story, and I’ll say it again: you really are amazing. I bow down to you and your awesomeness. All creepiness aside (considering I don’t actually *know* you and all), you really are someone I look up to. I am working really really hard on taking ownership of the things in my life that I have true issues/problems with and doing something to change them. Example: if there is a day I REALLY do not want to drag my ass to the gym, I think WWSD? Then I tell myself that Sundry would get her ass to the gym and so, I go. THANK YOU so much for the inspiration. (Also, on an ironic note, thanks for the a-maz-ing chocolate chip cookie recipe. Talk about not being able to just have one…)

I remember ant-abuse.

You are an amazing mother. My kids can come play at your house any day. Well, if we lived anywhere close to the west coast, that is.

Thanks for saying so much of what I’m thinking, and for making me laugh and hug my kids more often.

I was struggling with an addiction problem up until about two years ago and I remember reading that post and thinking, Huh. The worst part is feeling like you’re alone and keeping a terrible secret, so the fact you were willing to share this helped me, and I’m sure countless other people.
Thank you.

Thanks for sharing. Very brave.

Again, I am amazed by your ability to open up and reveal such intimate personal details of your life. You inspire me to not hide the less than perfect parts of my story.

As for me, I’m on the “what do you mean you can’t have just one?” side of the equation. You’re the first (and only) person who has ever given me any perspective to what it must be like to be addicted to something other than cigarettes.

I congratulate you on your tremendous accomplishment.

I’m almost 30 and my father is sober for the first time in my entire life. It’s only been six months since he hit his bottom – trying to take his own life while living in his car after my mother kicked him out – but there’s a man in his sobriety I didn’t know existed.

I only wish I knew him growing up.

You’re giving your children what I never had. Thank you.

Thank you for sharing. I know how hard not drinking can be, as I have a number of alcoholics in my family. I’m glad that you found the will to quit and that your children are reason enough not to start again. For too many people their children are not enough.

Thank you for this post. I can so relate to your story. I guess it is hard for someone who doesn’t have a problem to relate to the “more, more, more” mentality that we as , (um, yea I’ll say it,) alcoholics have. Unlike you I tried to moderate(what a joke) for longer than I should have, but am now sober. Life is indeed richer, and there is clarity…..and sometimes clarity is tough….but still so much better than the haze. I stumbled on your blog via a link(Oct 1 2007…banished) and have been an avid reader since. Again, Linda thanks for your honesty….you help and inspire more than you probably realize!!