Recovering alcoholic celebrates Christmas sober for first time in years

Penny Osborne says her memories of Christmas past are blurred from drinking too much beer, but this year will be different with the help of an addiction treatment program in Saint John.

"I can tell you that I'm not going to drink today," said the 63-year-old former educational assistant who started attending meetings at the Sophia Recovery Centre back in July.

This December, Osborne said she's confident she'll be able to resist the temptations that come with the holidays.

"Let's face it, you know, everybody has wine on the go," she said.

"There's wine on the table. You go into visit somebody, [they say] would you like a drink.

"And people are lonely, OK?

"This time of year, people get lonely for their friend alcohol because that's the way we have celebrated."

Osborne said she can't remember the last time she put up a Christmas tree.

She thinks it's been as long as seven years since she brought out the homemade ornaments.

'Our gift is you being sober'

As she flips them over and reads her children's names on the backs, she expresses regret for lost time and lost memories.

"This one, let me see, was made by my youngest daughter in kindergarten. She's 39 now."

Osborne's convinced these happier days would not be possible without the peer support of other women who know what she's going through.  

"Nobody understands, quite gets it, other than another alcoholic."

It's been a remarkable reversal for someone who started drinking at age 14, herself the child of two alcoholics.

And she still harbours a faint dread of what would happen if she slips.

"One drink and bada boom, bada boom, it's downhill all the way."

On Christmas Eve, Osborne will be joining her grown daughters and their families for dinner.

She said she expects to wake up Christmas Day feeling clear-headed and healthy.

She won't need to self-medicate, she said. She won't feel hung over.

"The girls have said, 'We don't need any gift. Our gift is you being sober.'"