I was always a light-weight drinker and it was never really an issue

Instagram: @thesobergrandmaroadtrip

What’s your name and drug of choice? Lynn, Alcohol and cannabis

What’s your sobriety date? Alcohol 5/24/21, Cannabis 5/24/22

I’m a 69 yo church-going, road-tripping, tatted up, sober grandma. Born and raised in Florida, lived there my whole life, and now I’m a citizen of the world. We sold our home in Florida and are in the process of buying our new home in Costa Rica. In fact, our realtor just sent some stunning videos of our spectacular views.

Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself. I’m retired six years, happily married 44 years, have four grown children, and am loving life alcohol Free.

I was a dental hygienist for 20+ years, got burned out and became employed as an office manager in the College of Dentistry at the University of Florida. I worked on and received my MBA while I was there and was then recruited to be the director of continuing dental education. I was in that position for 12 years and retired from there.

I was always a light-weight drinker and it was never really an issue, until it was, because, you know, who likes to puke, right? Raising a family, holding down a job, taking care of business and all was plenty to handle, and alcohol was not a part of the equation at that time. It wasn’t until I retired and had some family issues, that I turned to alcohol to ease the pain, and it was a rapid descent from there.

Describe your experience as an addict.

My experience had a slow lead up. The kids were grown and on their own. My job was stressful, my mother-in-law moved in, and sharing a bottle of wine at dinner each night with my husband seemed a perfectly normal thing to do. It continued that way until I retired and we moved to a smaller, though still nice-size home, with MIL still in residence.

That’s when the stress slowly started to simmer. My blood pressure shot up. My doc put me on meds for it and anxiety. And, alcohol became my best friend.

That, of course, lead to poor decision making, reckless behavior and covert drinking. Which spiraled into more poor decisions, etc, and ultimately lead to my oldest daughter, who was going through a contentious divorce and custody battle at the time chose to pull the plug on our relationship. She established boundaries, which did not include me. That is when I turned to alcohol to numb the pain of rejection, alienation, withdrawal of my daughter’s love, shame, guilt, self-loathing and on and on and on.

When her divorce was final, joint custody was arranged, and her life was leveling off to a new normal, we started to have some communication. By that time, MIL had passed on, and life was on a more even keel. But, I was a functional alcoholic by then and continued to sneak drinks, starting first thing in the morning to stop the shakes, and continuing throughout the day until I was passed out by dinner time or at least black-out drunk pretty much every day. Needless to say, I continued to do really stupid, hurtful things. Looking back, I can’t even believe that was me…

When did you realize your life had become unmanageable?

That is very easy to pinpoint. I got a text from this same daughter on Monday, May 24, 2021. It basically said, “Mom, I’m really concerned about your drinking. On our Facetime last night, you were slurring and repeating yourself and not really making any sense to the point that your grandson (6 yo) was concerned and wanted to know what was wrong with grandma.”

I was like, what? What is she talking about? And, I had to look at my phone to see if we actually had a Facetime the night before. Of course, we had. That was it. I was done! I knew, in my heart, that I had a drinking problem for a long, long time (at least six years, right?!) And, here was proof positive.

My next thought was, “Great, this is just great timing; we’re leaving on Friday for our long-anticipated Tour America Road-Trip and I decide now’s the time to stop drinking." And, it was…

What did your recovery look like?

Since we were hitting the road so soon, counseling/therapy did not seem like an option at that point. So, I googled and found The Alcohol Experiment Journal by Annie Grace and ordered it from Amazon so it could come in before we left.

And, actually it turned out that the road-trip was exactly the right time to break up with booze, because we were doing something new and different every day, breaking up our routine, and it’s hard to sneak drinks when Hubs is right there by your side 24-7. The choice of the Alcohol Experiment Journal turned out to be brilliant because I committed to doing a lesson each and every day for the 30 days of the experiment. It gave me a new routine and provided the education and support and journaling I needed to begin my journey.

As I progressed day-by-day and we were experiencing so many wonderful adventures every day, I decided to document my road-trip, both actual and spiritual, on Instagram as @thesobergrandmaroadtrip. That was a truly inspired move! That’s where I found my tribe and became part of a beautiful brave aF commUNITY, which has been the best move of my life.

Counseling and therapy, Quit Lit, and many Alcohol Experiments have all been part of my journey, but it’s my dear friends on IG, a couple of whom I’ve met IRL, that have upheld and sustained me and enabled me to thrive!

How are you doing these days?

FabYOUlous! Seriously. Every day is a new adventure and I’m so grateful to be present and alive and aware to appreciate it.

What are you grateful for?

I’m grateful for so many things, but in this instance, I’m most grateful for my daughter calling me out. If she hadn’t, I truly don’t think I’d be here today.

Any advice you would give to newly sober folks?

Yes! I always advise focusing on the Cs. Compassion. Curiosity. Clarity. Courage. Connection. CommUNITY!

PS - Perhaps the best way to get my full story is through the podcast guest interviews. Just saying.