Magazine

June 2011: Paradise Lost

From the June 2011 Grapevine Magazine

A meeting of one turns her vacation from disastrous to delightful

"By 5:15 p.m., it became very likely that there would only be one AA member in attendance at the 5 p.m. “AA in Paradise” meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous, so I called myself to order and read from each book."

I was only two months sober when I took a vacation in Ixtapa, Mexico. Arriving sober with my husband felt like walking onto the wrong movie set. I remembered this club from my single, drinking days, back when I was the only topless female on the beach during the day, and making my rounds with the club staff at night.

Now I was married, newly sober and anything but comfortable in my own skin, regardless of the garments covering it. As we stepped off the bus from the long journey, the heat drummed my head and congested my lungs. I squinted and tried not to dwell on the fact that I... Subscribe to access full story