Today we have Amy. She is 41 years old and lives in Raleigh, NC. She took her last drink on December 12th, 2023.

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October 2026 we have a new retreat we have yet to do. This is an in-person alcohol-free ukulele retreat taking place in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. There will be ukulele instruction in the mornings and Spanish immersion courses in the afternoon.

[02:01] Thoughts from Paul:

Addiction is disconnecting with the self and your fellow humans. More sobriety is connection with the self, your fellow humans and more. "I" equals illness, "we" equals wellness.

Quitting drinking is a perfect circle. Your drinking crisis is an opportunity for someone to help. Phrased with 12 step verbiage, your first step is someone else's 12th step. And when you find your footing, you can then assist someone else in their drinking crisis.

When the soul is hurting, the healing only happens when you're not alone. And speaking of being alone, listeners, you are not alone. You are not the only one who struggles with alcohol. You, along with the other listeners, are seeking not only sobriety but seeking a deeper connection with all. Seeking answers that the bottle can't deliver. You are in the right place.

[07:37] Paul introduces Amy:

Amy is 41 years old and lives in Raleigh, NC with her husband and a three-year-old son. Amy says she is a theater nerd and does improv comedy for fun.

Amy grew up in the southwest side of Chicago where she says her father was an alcoholic. She has memories of being a child at AA and Al-Anon meetings with her parents as well as memories of her father taking her to bars when they would tell her mother they were somewhere else.

Amy had her first drink when she was 15 while going to a concert with older teens. There was a bottle passed around the group and they all got drunk. Later that night she was found in the field of the concert venue by paramedics and taken to the hospital to have her stomach pumped.

She began to live a double life throughout high school and college. Amy saw that if she got good grades and joined all of the clubs, she would get praise and recognition. On the flip side she would drink very hard, and it wasn't uncommon for her to get alcohol poisoning. Only after going to grad school in New York was Amy able to calm down a bit.

After COVID, Amy and her husband were doing IVF. Amy says she didn't drink much at this point, but after having the baby, she suffered from postpartum anxiety which led her to daily drinking as a tool to cope with it. Over time she would begin to try moderation but limiting herself to two drinks was difficult and led to binges.

Amy's last bender was at a holiday work party. The next day she found herself hungover and asked herself how her drinking was any better than her father's was when she was younger. She knew that she may be heading down a dangerous path, so Amy decided to call the local AA helpline.

Amy began going to AA meetings and found a sponsor. She shares that her mother was a great support because of her experience with Al-Anon and she understood what Amy was going through.

One of the best things for Amy was burning the ships and gaining accountability. Even after 18 months, Amy admits there is white knuckling at times. She realizes that after 25 years of drinking, it doesn't all heal within 18 months, but she is grateful to be where she is and says that since getting sober, she hasn't missed a day of her son's life.

Amy's parting piece of guidance: everything that she was looking for while getting drunk can be found in recovery and she found it in Café RE and AA. Take what works and leave the rest.

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