{"product_id":"9781512757828","title":"Ill Have Mine Straight Up: Still Counting My Blessings Every Day","description":"\u003cp\u003eELEVEN YEARS\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eShhhhh!  Enough on the years. I am not collecting years, just days. 4017 days on my sobriety birthday, July 12, 2015.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eLast time I checked, we are all on the same day—\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003eToday.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis year leading up to my sobriety birthday in July looked strangely like the six months leading up to the day I stopped drinking. From January to July in 2004,  I was not sober much of the time.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWe received the news this year that my husband had a rare form of thyroid cancer requiring surgery and two types of radiation. During that same time, my mother died suddenly of a heart attack. I went through the loss of several other friends and their memorials tightly packed together right after my mom’s death—then recently, my only niece’s death.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe difference?\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eI didn’t drink through any of what has happened this year. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThere is nothing in this life that we can experience that a drink won’t make worse.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWalking through the emotions of it all is hard. People said I would “feel better” when I got sober. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes, I am feeling my feelings better because I am present. Stuffing the feelings by drinking was keeping me in denial and stuck. I “feel” better  because I am not checking out. Feelings are not facts. The feelings pass. Growth happens. I can move on and live. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNow, I am living all of this life straight up!\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eYou can too. I pray that for you.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WestBow Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47146393469168,"sku":"9781512757828","price":5.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781512757828_p0.jpg?v=1763725847","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781512757828","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}