Thursday, March 17, 2016

My relationship with alcohol

Monday night Maureen & I talked for quite a while & one of those topics was journaling. So here I am ready to resume. I still remember my first night on campus. I cried tears of fear; come Sunday I will cry tears of joy. Both times I fear the future. I left Mom, Dad, & Stephanie, & walked back to Marycrest. I dried my tears & came back into my room. My hall mates said they were going to Harper’s sister’s house. I walked with them; campus seemed so big & I did not know what street I was on. Truthfully, I still confuse K & L Street. I stood on the porch & stayed quiet. I knew nobody; what was I supposed to do? Someone offered me a beer & I told them no thank you. I have no idea why; divine intervention. Shortly thereafter, one of my hall mates bent over the railing & puked his guts out. That, along with other reasons alcohol related, became my motivation & reasoning not to drink alcohol until my 21st birthday. I stayed true to that.

On my 21st birthday, I went to class, & then I worked for four hours. Within the first five minutes or so, I needed to refill a bag of barbecue sauce. I emptied the bag, reached down below, grabbed the box of barbeque sauce, & then something I may never forget happened. The bottom of the barbeque sauce bag ripped & out barbeque sauce came. All over my uniform, seeping into my t-shirt, on my jeans, & all over my shoes. Ned came out, saw what happened, & asked if I was ok. I just told him to go get Jenny. She came, I then took off my apron, threw it in the hamper, washed my hands, dried part of my jeans & t-shirt, wiped off my jeans as best I could, & got back to work. I sang in my head, happy birthday to me 21 times. What a start to my 21st birthday.

That evening, Ben, Peter, Rob, & I drove to Lucky’s only to see it filled & returned to Buffalo Wild Wings. Peter bought me my first ever beer Blue Moon. Thank goodness Blue Moon is not the only beer. If so, I would be sober for the rest of my life. Instead, I exchanged beers with Peter & drank Killian’s. After finishing it, I thought maybe not all beer is bad. After dinner, Nick joined us & we headed to trivia at the Fieldhouse. There, Nick bought me my first Yuengling. Now that is a high-quality beer, I do not care what you say. For our team name for the first round, I chose Bazinga. In celebration, Amy & Brandon bought me Yuengling & Candice led us in numerous cheers. Twice I recall knowing the correct answer. Once was the question of naming the TV show based off its theme song. I immediately knew the answer upon hearing the song & proclaimed Sons of Anarchy! Nick pushed my head down, told me shush, & everyone else laughed. The second one was to name the song & artist. It turned out to be the theme song of Duck Dynasty. That time I looked at Laura & told her “Sharp Dressed Man” by ZZ Top. After five rounds of trivia, two where we finished second, we walked back to 340 Stonemill. The last thing I remember besides drinking Yuengling was watching The Big Bang Theory, roughly around 1-2 am. The next morning, I woke up & Peter asked me how I felt. I told him thirsty, a bit tired, & out of it. Peter chuckled & said congratulations on your first hangover. I crawled out of bed & after getting a glass of water, asked what happened towards the end of the night. Peter informed me we watched The Big Bang Theory, chilled until about 4 am when we walked back & I promptly went to sleep. I asked him if I did anything stupid, he said no, & I said nice. I proceeded with my day, & at our porch group that day, Candice, Nick, & I reminisced about the joy of the previous night.

Therefore, that is the story. How I stayed alcohol-free & sober until my 21st. Then I got drunk; it was all in fun & my friends kept me safe. I am proud of staying sober until my 21st birthday. That night ranks in my Top 10 fun times of my UD career. I admit I have been drunk since. I admit I like a good beer. However, I never was a fan of going to the Ghetto for partying with the purpose of becoming drunk. So, it goes. My relationship with alcohol