The Brain and Body Healing Effects of a Sober Tropical Vacation
I returned recently from a five-day, sober tropical vacation in Puerto Rico. To put the result into the proper perspective, I missed my connecting flight on the way home. I couldn’t muster enough rancor to be snippy to the customer service representative who rerouted me. What, Me Worry? My originating flight was an […]
When the Booze Soaked World is In Your Face…
Sometimes it’s just in my face a whole lot more. You know… the fact that I live in a booze soaked world. Some days it’s just more evident than at other times. Most days I get to potter about my community, interact with my friends, spend time online, look after my kids, and […]
My First AA Meeting… Scared to Death
The sounds of laughter trickled down the hall and up the stairs, carried on the currents of coffee and lingering stale cigarette smoke. I stood at the top railing, peering down. There was no one was in sight, but I could hear them. I looked back behind me, through the double doors of the […]
Fear Not the Pink Cloud, My Sober Friends
You can see it up there, can’t you? Right beside the sun, next to the unicorn. It’s hard to miss—a fluffy mass resplendent in its coral color. It has a built-in espresso maker and from its center, rainbows shoot high in the sky and stain the horizon with joy and high-fives. If you’ve […]
Excursions – Embracing the Challenges and the Triumphs of Recovery
I am one of those people who likes to experience the thing I am touting. No false advertising here. So when Sanford House set out to launch an online, lifestyle magazine for people in recovery, I did some soul searching – head and foot. We organized several meetings, where Sanford House staff unearthed what recovery […]
Girl Restarted – What It’s Like to be Out of Rehab and Back to College
Apartness is such a common thread in the stories of alcoholics and addicts. It seems to plague us; the feeling of being an utter misfit, of not belonging and having to pump ourselves full of booze just to feel a part of things. I don’t ever remember feeling comfortable anywhere. I was squirmy and […]
Getting Self-Esteem (I’m Not Much, But I’m All I Think About)
Mirrors I used to love looking in mirrors. As a child, I’d frown, make funny faces and would see just how far I could cross my eyes. I inspected myself—the gap in my two front chompers, the length of my hair, the way my eyebrows almost met. As I grew up, I found […]
Now That We’re in Recovery, Who Else Wants a Puppy?
Updated March 2024 I was minding my own business the other day, and an idea popped up: GET A RECOVERY PUPPY. It occurred with the same kind of punch-in-the-gut suddenness my wine cravings used to materialize, so I should be wary. I know we are not supposed to start a serious relationship, get married, […]
Girl Restarted – Being an Alcoholic Sort of Ruined My 21st Birthday Plans…
From the moment I took my first drink, I had glorious plans for my twenty-first birthday. Flashing horizontal ID’s in suspicious bouncer’s faces, drinking everyone under the table, ordering fancy drinks just because it was legal, and having to be dragged back to my room by friends because I was too sloshed to even […]
Girl Restarted – The Emotional Thaw
Sanford House alumna S.E.B. was in treatment before she was legally old enough to drink alcohol. She will be guest blogging for Sanford House and taking us along on her recovery journey. She’s learning to “feel”, turning 21 and navigating family and friends in the sober life. So, Wish her luck – she’s Girl Restarted… In […]
