How I’m Living Alcohol Free In A Pandemic

In 2017, I decided to give up drinking alcohol during Lent, and wrote an essay about my experience for Medium.

At the time, my choice was linked to a medical test that my doctor wanted to repeat, just to be sure the results were right. She advised me not to drink for a month before hand.

The 40-day period of Lent turned out to mesh perfectly with her advice. (The test came out fine.)

Yet, I found that going alcohol free became a habit that suited me. I’ve long been a one-and-done drinker, able to nurse a cocktail, a glass of wine or a beer through an evening.

A friend of mine once teased me for ordering fresh drinks that I never touched, just so I could keep pace with him and others at the table.

I stopped doing that, and ultimately just abandoned alcohol completely. I had six drinks in all of 2019, and I haven’t had an alcoholic drink since Thanksgiving, 2019.

Yes, I have gotten through the pandemic without a cocktail.

By no means do I want to spoil your fun. In fact, I fully intend to enjoy a glass of champagne to toast my book, when it’s published next year.

Meanwhile, I’m hoping to keep my streak going. I find my sleep enormously improved, there are obviously no hangovers to wrestle with, and…