On May 5th I celebrated my 4 year sober anniversary.  It sort of felt like it was my birthday, which at first seemed silly, until I realized that in a way it is a birthday.  May 5, 2015 was my birth into a life without alcohol, and even though I have struggled with my mental illness since then, sobriety has allowed me to have a better, fuller life.

To celebrate, my husband and I went to a pottery painting shop where I chose to paint, somewhat ironically, a shot glass.  

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I ordered popsicle sticks from Amazon and am going to write the names of those who have helped me maintain sobriety, whether purposefully or not, on each stick.  I am then going to put those sticks in the shot glass.

I have mentioned in the past that AA is a great resource that helps many people, but that it doesn’t work for me.  One thing I do feel that I miss by not being a part of AA is celebrating anniversaries. Rehashing the story and having cake, or getting a chip, or even the happiness and pride of others in AA.  This is why I chose to add the sticks, because I do have people who are happy for me, we just aren’t all in a church basement together drinking bad coffee.

Sobriety has brought me, and taught me, many things and while I still would love to be able to drink I know it is really, truly, absolutely better that I don’t.  I want to be able to celebrate 5 years next year, on 5/5, so I think I’ll keep at this whole sobriety thing.