alcoholic cardiomyopathy

About 25 years ago I had reached the point where if I wasn't getting drunk, I wasn't having a good time. At a pre 4th of July party I got hammered. Spent the next three days in bed and really didn't feel like getting out on the 4th day but I couldn't stand the smell of me any more. During that time laying in bed I did a lot of thinking. My fraternal grandmother died of liver failure (alcoholic) and my dad is an alcoholic (he has since quit due to Adult On-Set Diabetes). My future didn't look all that rosy.

I have not had an alcoholic drink since. It hasn't always been easy. Refusing the drinks has never been hard for me (turning down something that the very smell of makes you want to hurl is pretty easy), it was the friends whom I thought would understand (not the partiers) who made it tough at times. They didn't or couldn't get it. No matter how long you've known he or she, a friend who encourages you to drink is not really a friend. You have friends for a reason, a season, or a life-time. This will sort out who is who. Try not to be surprised by the results.

Something that helped social scenes immensely was suggested, ironically by a bar-keep, have a drink in your hand. Does not need to be alcoholic, obviously it shouldn't be. For me a cranberry juice and club soda, with a wedge of lime in it, made all of the drinkers immediately assume that I had a cocktail in my hand and their awkwardness of being around a non-drinker disappeared. Frequently, by declaring my friends the "designated drinkers" to the bar-keep, my drinks are on the house.

Luck is when opportunity meets preparation. Here's your opportunity, make your luck.