Happy October to all. I do love the beginning of the fall season. I especially love Halloween. Every year, for as long as I can remember, we get together as a family, either at my parents home or my brother’s home. We eat, we drink (lots and lots of drink) and we give out candy to the thousands of excited children. This year will be my first, sober Halloween in more than 15 years. I have had many sober “firsts” since May, which brings me to the continuation of my last post in September.

On May 11, 2023, I walked out of my GP’s office and made the harrowing decision to quit the poison, as I like to call it these days. That first week, first month was dreadful. Although I knew I had an alcohol problem, I didn’t understand the complexity of the poison I had been ingesting for almost two decades. I can assure you, that my body, showed me exactly what I had done. I had the shakes, sweats, moments of blurred vision and thinking, fear, anxiety and insomnia. Two days after I had my last drink I had a family gathering to attend. I clearly remember looking into the mirror, as I was getting dressed, and had a full blown panic attack. I survived that day, week and month. Each day I repeated the words, “Just for today, I will not drink. Tomorrow is unknown.” Before I knew it, I was closing in on one month. And I had my first, sober restaurant dinner that month. A far cry from the boozy, loud and uninhibited evenings of the past.