When Dry January turns into sobriety

Lord Roberts

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/01/2025 (588 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

I ushered in 2025 by virtually attending a Toronto-based Alcoholics Anonymous meeting to hear my childhood friend tell her story.

Not the story about working on her PhD at Oxford University or teaching English in Saudia Arabia and Hong Kong. This was one I had never heard as a structured narrative.

I was one of the characters. I was touched to hear her say, “When I came clean with one of my friends about my drinking, she suggested I go to A.A.”

Anna (not her real name) lives in Hong Kong. During the pandemic, we committed to a weekly call every Sunday to talk about fiction – our own and others.

We gravitated towards stories about stagnation and growth, destruction and transformation.

Although she lived 11,405 km away, she was my lifeline during the pandemic. What I didn’t know is that she had crossed that nebulous line between alcohol abuse and alcoholism.

“Getting COVID made my Christmas wishes come true. I don’t want to drink anymore, and I just want to eat broccoli and soup,” she said in January 2023.

That’s when I realized she had a drinking problem. Her dry January gave way to a sloshy February. I had concerns, particularly when she missed our scheduled call on a few occasions.

She was done with drinking by late summer, but she was afraid alcohol wasn’t done with her.

Soon our weekly calls had a new agenda item: sobriety milestones. Anna committed to “the program” and went through a transformational emotional growth spurt. She had found her people.

I met members of her community at that open A.A. speaker meeting and marvelled at how community and connection can transcend geography and time zones.

She showed up for the people who are trying to quit drinking and paid homage to the veteran members who helped her get and stay sober.

If your dry January isn’t going as planned, Winnipeg has a vibrant A.A. community, with meetings in every part of the city, seven days a week.

If you’ve tried 12-step groups and the spiritual focus didn’t resonate with you, SOS Winnipeg might be a better fit. SOS (Secular Organizations for Sobriety) is a proponent of taking personal responsibility for sobriety and promotes rational and critical thinking.

For more recovery resources, visit mbaddictionhelp.ca or call 1-855-662-6605.