My sister will be 70 tomorrow, and my other sister and I decided to all take a trip to the beach to celebrate. Aside from being sisters, we all have drinking in common. I have been sober for 139 days today; it will be 144 days by the time we leave. They know nothing about my sobriety because I don’t believe they would be supportive. I know I can do this - they can’t talk me into drinking with them - but as the middle sister (peacemaker, etc.), I’m concerned about their reaction. My older sister’s husband would love to see her stop drinking, but she isn’t ready yet. (At my older sister’s wedding, the two of them got me in a bathroom alone and tried to pressure me to do coke with them (“Come on! It’s her wedding! It’s just us! Do this with us!”). I declined - stayed strong - and I don’t regret not joining them and to this day I’ve still never partaken in cocaine. My then husband told me he used to try to figure out how to give it to me without me knowing. Probably no surprise we’re divorced. Anyway, I’ll update after the trip! Thank you all for being supportive!
I went on vacation. I went with someone who drinks. When there was an unexpected beer on the table for me, I drank it. It started a horrible bender.
I had seven months sober.
I had the smallest reservation about drinking on that vacation. It got me drunk and ruined the trip.
Old drinking partners have a hard time letting us go. I think your risking your sobriety.
Why not tell them even if they don’t support you? At least you’re putting it out there that you’re not going to drink. Setting boundaries is part of the recovery process. Start now!
I went on a 4 day trip recently to Vegas with my sisters to celebrate one’s 60th birthday. I’m the youngest of 5 girls. They drank from the minute we got in the Uber at the airport until the day we left. It didn’t faze me at all while on the trip, but a bunch of life challenges when I returned home sent me into a tail spin. All I could think about was how much fun they had drinking together and escaping life. Suddenly, I had tunnel vision and all I could think about was a drink. Thankfully, I had a tiny bit of sanity left and got myself to a ladies AA meeting instead of the liquor store. I’ve got 6+ years of sobriety. This just shows, it doesn’t matter how much time we’ve got, alcohol is cunning, baffling and powerful.
Stay vigilant! This disease is ready to strike at any moment.