The holidays can be a difficult time for recovering students. Memories of past years and our former activities plague our present selves. In fact, even our families can have fear and expect us to show up as we have in the past. However, it is a transformative experience to show up as a sober individual during the holidays. Whether we are with our family, friends, or merely watching movies in our rooms, we automatically create new sober memories during the holidays. Each year gets easier as we remember that getting through Christmas and New Year’s Eve last year was POSSIBLE! Our families also heal as we bring our new recovering selves home and offer to play a family board game–previously unheard of–which brings joyous smiles to our siblings and parents!
– by Nora B. and April D.