[leo the lamb]

I finally let on that I've tried alcohol to my dear mother. I think I may have created a couple more gray hairs. I told her that I'm not particularly drawn to strong drink, and that beer tastes disgusting, but she said she wasn't worried any less by these details. She's very much of the mindset that alcohol will surely draw a person away from God, and so a Christian should never even taste it if at all possible. She's not so strict about strictly-medicinal alcohol (she's made compresses with port and an aloe-honey-vodka cough syrup), but when I opined that a little red wine is good when a person is sick, she insisted on her non-alcoholic go-to remedies. I don't think it would help to tell her that I seriously dislike having my faculties impaired by indulging too much(!), or even that earlier this evening I thought about having a shot of wine after some food but decided I was more in the mood for water and tea.

Not a bad start to my revelations, I'd say. I was a little surprised by how soon this wasn't the topic of the evening, though I'm sure it will pop up now and again when alcohol is mentioned.

[myotch]

Had whiskey over the weekend. It was in a Bloody Mary mix, which is normally a vodka thing, I think.

Here’s a showcase of the downside of our freedom. I was with a couple of guys from church, one an AA-meeting, 90 day chip-having alcoholic, and we were at an event where they were giving these Captain Morgan whiskey bullet shots away. I could have one, savor the taste, figure out if I like it or not, and walk away with a new experience. The alcoholic had to be turned away for too many free samples, then was trying to enlist others to get shots for him. And I feel just Baptist enough to feel guilty for contributing to my brothers’s sin, even as I was unwilling to get alcohol for him.

[leo the lamb]

I think if my much-healthier-now relationship with my mom were in serious jeopardy from openly admitting to drinking regularly-occasionally (which I haven't quite done), I would be willing to give up alcohol for the remainder of her life - even if she threatened to disown me (a purely hypothetical situation that I imagine I could take not too seriously). I couldn't promise to give it up for the rest of my life, though. But I feel like it will play out a lot less stressfully, with her eventually just accepting that I partake and worrying some and praying more about it. Then again, I don't fear this getting out anything like I do my abandonment of Christianity, and that little nuclear bomb would no doubt convince her all the more of alcohol's evil. I wish I could just let that one lie for a few more decades, but my perspective may evolve to where coming out as godless becomes an important step on my path, or I may not even have a choice in the matter.

[Dr. Jezebel]

I had my first margarita Friday. It was good, but I've learned I seriously dislike tequila straight.

[WalrusWrangler]

I still haven't let on to my family that I drink, even though my mom has disavowed fundamentalism. I don't know that I ever will. I have the luxury of living three hours away, though, and they rarely visit, and never unannounced.

I went to a dinner with friends over the weekend, and we made margaritas. I'm not a huge fan of tequila, but this didn't have the strong, peppery flavor that I dislike. It was good stuff. It was the first drink I'd ever mixed myself (besides pouring whisky into soda or something).