Sobering Thoughts - a memoir: alcoholism, family, courage and redemption

Sobering Thoughts, a memoir about the humor and horror of living with alcoholics.

The effects of alcoholism in the family last more than a lifetime. They are passed down to your children even if you, yourself, did not become an alcoholic. Family alcoholism can deeply affect your development, personality, and expectations for life.

More than any other wish I could wish, I wish and hope that my experiences and realizations will make you more aware of the beliefs and conclusions you have made about life, about your life, that have their origins in the disease of alcoholism. And, by opening to greater awareness you, too, will move toward healing and freedom.

In Sobering Thoughts, through illustrative stories from my family life, from recovering alcoholics, and from people traumatized by alcoholic behavior, I explore a path toward wholeness. Along the way, I found a funny-awful list of words related to drinking and drunkenness; smart people helped me explore U.S. alcoholism by the numbers; I collected quotes from writers and recovering addicts; and offered Al-Anon essays and other tales of redemption.