Released From the Grip: A Young Person Finds Sobriety, 0317 ALBJ, 78 The Alabama Lawyer 136 (2017)
| Author | Mary O., J. |
Mary O., J.
In 1935, when Alcoholics Anonymous (“AA”) first began, a stereotype existed of alcoholics being skid-row drunks. For many people, that image still prevails–so much so that many are shocked to learn that the founding members of AA were professionals: a doctor and a stockbroker. The third member of AA was a lawyer. Those early members understood that despite their lengthy drinking careers “to be gravely affected, one does not necessarily have to drink a long time nor take the quantities some of us have. This is particularly true of women. Potential female alcoholics often turn into the real thing and are gone beyond recall in a few years.”1 This was true with me.
I took my first drink at 13 and my last at 20, just before my junior year at college. Prior to getting sober, my days were spent making sure no one knew that I had a problem and planning how and when I could drink. If I went somewhere and alcohol was not being served, I made sure to drink beforehand, bring something with me and know where to go afterward.
My mother was an educator in the field of alcoholism and addiction; she constantly brought home information about the disease with grave warnings about my genetic predisposition to the disease (the Irish!). I read the information and thought I knew how to handle it. I juggled work, school, friends; I spent a lot of energy making sure I looked good. I maintained grades, always showed up on time (except I never went to class) and presented a happy face. It took everything I had to do all that and make sure no one knew how much I was drinking.
When I started law school, I was three years sober in AA and I have remained sober for the 30 years I have practiced law. While traveling this professional and personal journey, people are surprised at the length of my sobriety, often asking, “How could you stop drinking in college?” I assure them that I did not want to stop drinking; instead, I simply could not continue drinking. That is a distinction with a difference. In AA, we call this the jumping-off place.
I could not imagine my life with or without alcohol.[2] I could not drink enough to get drunk. I had an endless supply of alcohol from my job at the local liquor store and a generous amount of recreational drugs because I chose my boyfriend for his access...
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