She looks fine to me

 Mothering Sunday is a few days away, the tradition where millions of people will show their love and appreciation for their mothers. As a mother myself I understand the responsibility and pressure to be the best parent we can be, physically and emotionally. Mother's Day is the one day when you get to be looked after by your kids, and when they show how much they love you back, it means the world. This will be my first sober Mother's Day for a long, long time. My boys will give me a gift, but unfortunately, they live away from home now, one has his own place, and the other is at university. I wish I had stopped drinking earlier, when they were home, when they were younger and when they kept asking me to. You can't get that time back again.   It's ironic that the only thing we want to do is protect and give our little ones the best start in life we can, although, in reality, we might not be fully present for them at the most impre...

  Many people think that if you stop drinking alcohol that you must have hit what is called 'rock bottom' which is a turn of phrase that conjures up images of the dirty, homeless and intoxicated individual, slumped on a park bench drinking a cheap bottle of extra-strength cider — the stereotype alcoholic. That's a fallacy; not everyone reaches rock bottom, and the point where people feel that their drinking has become a problem is a different experience for everyone. Many people don't classify themselves as an alcoholic, but instead, prefer to use terms like binge-drinker, alcohol dependent and grey-area-drinker. The point is still the same, we all have a problem with drink.   I hit rock bottom, pulled myself out and then hit it again, several times. It took me a long time to say goodbye to my constant companion, my best friend, my love - drink. My relationships faltered because of it, and I lost friends, my family still loved me, but I know I was ...