I’m a curious, kind, and compassionate introvert with nearly fifty years of life experience. My sobriety date is 7/17/17, and choosing to live sober has been the best decision I’ve ever made. My journey with alcohol began in my early 30s after a brief marriage, as I used beer and wine to numb feelings of shame, rejection, and otherness after years of being the black sheep of the family. For a decade, I struggled with active alcoholism, losing nearly everything before entering inpatient treatment on 7/17/17. Since then, my almost seven years of sobriety have brought immense challenges, but taking a drink has never been a solution. Today, my life is full, messy (because that’s just life), and wonderfully worth living.