Welcome to Growing Pains: Sober Girls Edition!

Hello! My name is Jane and I’m an alcoholic. Some of you may remember me from Episode 9 of Breakfast with an Alcoholic,

Breakfast with an Alcoholic: Episode 9

I have been helping our wonderful host Randall on Instagram and recently made an appearance on Episode XX of BWAA as well.

Breakfast with an Alcoholic: Episode XX

For those of you who don’t know me, I came into the rooms January 1st, 2022, when I was 22. I am now 23 and have 7 months sober, and while I couldn’t be any more grateful for the extraordinary ways my life has changed since walking through the 79th Street workshop doors, sobriety is hard. It’s difficult when you’re 23 and almost all your former friends don’t understand what it means to never have a drink again (in my experience most will look at you like you have 7 heads). It’s a bit sad to see other twenty-year olds, drinking normally and responsibly at all the most fabulous places in Manhattan. It’s wild experiencing those early sobriety emotions (like when pretty much anything makes you cry and when you are so tired you can barely keep your eyes open ALL THE TIME..or is that just me) PLUS PMSing. 

It’s certainly not easy to be a young woman and sober, but what I would like to do here is create a space where women can bond, collaborate, and share their experiences. How we stay sober every day and hopefully help the next young woman who isn’t trying a dry January…but is getting sober to save her life. 

You don’t have to pour a cup of coffee for this one, but I hope you’ll join me! (I’m having an iced coffee while writing this if it’s any consolation.)

P.S. I mention dry January because with a sober date of January 1st, it was the perfect reason for me at first to tell people why I wasn’t drinking. Eventually, I dropped the charade. There was someone at my office who was extending their hand and I happily took it and helped them find their way to the rooms. Since then, I stopped pretending I was participating in a dry January and was honest that I am an alcoholic. I am in AA and I am very very proud to be and to say so. I know some people never break their anonymity and that is okay too, but for me, I wear my alcoholism like a badge of honor because I never want to go back to thinking “I can drink like one of the boys” is a badge of honor.