When I gave up alcohol, I thought my husband would leave me. Going sober can end in divorce..
. but could also save your marriage By Lauren Rippin Published: 12:37, 18 October 2024 | Updated: 12:37, 18 October 2024 e-mail 1 View comments Normally, the invitation to a dinner party to celebrate a close friend's birthday would have been received with excitement. There'd be cocktails in the garden, then champagne (then more champagne).
A selection of beautiful wines to go with dinner, then a cheeky liqueur or two over coffee. If someone decided to crank up a 1990s music playlist, there might even be some dancing, while we polished off the rest of the fizz (sacrilege to let it go flat). At midnight, my husband Adrian and I would catch a taxi home to our house in Leeds, giggling and cuddling on the back seat – willing ourselves not to slur in front of the babysitter when we got home.
When I hit 40 my body started to object. First, it was to certain wines and champagne, then spirits such as gin and, eventually, all alcohol A lovely evening, then. Perfect.
Only this time, when the invitation came, I felt a bolt of anxiety. The thought of all that alcohol made me feel uneasy. Because this time, I wouldn't be drinking.
And yet Adrian still would be. Therein lay the problem. Around three months before, I'd decided to give up alcohol completely - sparked by fears of the impact it was having on both my mental and physical health - but was terrified about the effect that abstinence might .
