Am I A Teetotaler?

September 2022

The short answer is no, not at all. But sometimes (for long periods of time) I act like one.

I haven't had a glass of wine in more than a year as of this writing. It's been even longer since I had a beer. I haven't had any kind of hard liquor since the late 1980s or very early 1990s. I once went about 20 years, beginning in 1994, when I actually was a teetotaler and I abstained from all alcohol.

However, before those years, I experimented with alcohol in social settings. The first time was when I was 18 years old in college and fellow students were drinking vodka. I tried it but didn't realize how strong it was until I got dizzy and the world was spinning. I had to lay down. Lesson never forgotten.

In my mid-twenties, I mostly drank cocktails or had a few beers when I was at dance (disco) clubs. I worked out the effects in my moves on the floor under crystal balls.

In my late twenties and thirties, I mostly drank beer with friends. One exception was my experiment with liquor at a Christmas party held by my company in a northern suburb of New York. Coworkers will remember me as a friendly drunk, complimenting them. However, I soon went back to beer only.

Then came a period when I was drinking too much beer to deal with job and family stresses. I gained weight which I didn't like. My doctor said it wasn't good for me and explained why. That's when I decided to stop drinking entirely. It lasted for two decades.

I carefully tiptoed back into having a little bit of red wine with coworkers as I neared retirement. It was infrequent, under control and enjoyable.

After I retired, I continued having red wine (mostly) or beer (sometimes) upon occasion with friends at local restaurants and bars. It was still enjoyable in social settings and not a problem.

Then the pandemic came and in the first few months of intense isolation at home, I began to drink one whole bottle of wine over the course of a week or seven days. It didn't seem to do anything but relax me after dinner but I still thought it was too much.

Worse, during the isolation I ate more ice cream and pizza than I should have. Soon I gained almost twenty pounds. That was unacceptable.

So once again, beginning in late 2020 and throughout much of 2021, I stopped drinking anything for weeks and finally months at a time. I also stopped eating all pizza and ice cream which I truly missed. It worked. I lost all the weight and I returned to my normal size. Of course, I have to monitor it because I still can gain weight easily even with my conservative diet. I am getting older and I am not running, lap swimming and bicycle riding like I did in my youth.

Will I ever drink again? I planned to have a glass of wine for my birthday last year, as well as for Christmas and for New Year's, but I ended up not doing so despite having a few bottles of wine in my apartment. They have been sitting around collecting dust for more than a year.

Still, I am planning on having a glass of wine on my birthday this year in the fall. It's a major birthday and I will spend the night away from my apartment in a decent hotel, take photographs and celebrate another milestone.

And because it is relatively rare, I will take a picture of my glass of wine. Hopefully those of you who drink will join me in raising a glass in a virtual toast around that time.

________

HI1404