The Stark Contrast Between Alcoholism and Sobriety

Often, the contrast between drinking and not drinking is dramatic and obvious. Like the time my next door neighbor called over the fence for me to come try a new whiskey he found at the mega liquor store. He found a winner this time, and he invited me to share it with him and his friend who was visiting from San Diego. I don’t remember the brand, but that would be beside the point, anyway. My neighbor bought it because it was distilled with liquid smoke, and it smelled like we were drinking a barbeque grill. It was delicious, but that was beside the point, too. The new and interesting blend and the friend from out of town were just excuses for the three of us to drink most of a bottle of whiskey, with some beers mixed in, and become numb to the rest of the world around us.

My wife and kids were home that night. We didn’t have big family plans for the evening, but my chair was empty at the dinner table, and I left the bedtime responsibilities to my wife exclusively. She wasn’t mad any more than she was surprised. My familial neglect was minor, but it was noticeable, and it didn’t do anything to strengthen my marriage.

Drinking like that had a really magical, euphoric period for me. There was about an hour between when I was finishing my second glass of whiskey, and when I poured my sixth, that I felt absolutely sensational. Every…