TMF (Too Much Fun)
Well, Evan has been emailing quite a bit this weekend.
I hope he is exaggerating his exploits because it is fun to make auntie nuts.
Either that or he is courting alcohol poisoning.
He went to party last night where he got "hammered" and claims tonight to have got into, and won, a drinking contest at the house. He is only nineteen, but he is in Scotland and it is legal.
There are no families at the house right now and I am sure the adults who run the place have dealt with many an under-21 American youth going crazy for a while.
I have several thoughts in my head.
I would like to just shake my head at the wildness of youth. Isn't this what young people do? They hit legal drinking age and party. They drink to get drunk. Hopefully they make themselves thoroughly sick and learn moderation.
But Evan is a recovering addict. He has done a wonderful job of staying clean. In fact he did better than I ever would have guessed. The truth is that when he came back from rehab I was at first just waiting for him to start using again. He went to summer school and I spent the first day he was there staying calm, and he stayed clean.
I'm pretty sure he did slip-up his first evening at night school, but if he did, it was just a slip.
He has accomplished so much since coming back from the rehab center. He has stayed clean, finished school, made an emancipation plan, did everything he needed to do, and moved on with his adult life.
And now he is facing a new challenge.
I know that alcohol is legal. I know that many people, including myself, drink periodically without being addicts. I also know that the chances of a recovering drug addict being able to drink in moderation, without becoming alcoholic are vanishingly small.
But the statistics on him staying clean for as long as he has were pretty low too.
So hopefully he will go through this stage and come out the other side.
In the meantime, this Alanon'er will be keeping her sponsor occupied...
And just think...a week ago I was afraid he was leaving me forever. Nope. He is part of my life -- wherever he lives.
I know the statistics too. And so does he.
ReplyDeleteI remember driving across the bridge to Canada every weekend when I was in college because the drinking age there was 19, too. And we drank to get drunk, too. Stupid behavior and I shake my head thinking of it. But it was the age.
ReplyDeleteI didn't face Evan's challenge of being a previous addict, though. By the time I was 21 I had lost interest in that sort of thing. Like Granny said, I'm sure Evan knows the stats (and has you to remind him). I hope he finds control and learns moderation quickly.
In any case, I'm glad he's emailing you and keeping in close touch.
For what it's worth, in Europe he will be drinking in a culture that is much more conducive to drinking in moderation than North American culture. Clearly his upbringing is not European, but still. You never know.
ReplyDeleteGood luck to both of you. I hope he proves you best hopes right.