Recommended Reading for Our Alumnae

Information for Our Alumnae:

Living a Sober Life

Celebrate the Gift of Recovery During the Holiday
The holidays are the perfect time to celebrate the gift of recovery from alcohol and drugs. Whether you choose to connect to the spiritual side of the season, spend time with loved ones and friends, celebrate old traditions or create new ones, the holidays are a special time of gratitude for your life in recovery.
Building Relationships that Last
The truth is, we really don’t fall in love, we grow into love. In our relationships, we don’t really give ourselves the chance to benefit from the wonderful opportunities that loving provides. In other words, all of us desire the excitement and the pleasure of the grand overture, but few of us are willing to stay around for the second act.
Understanding Relapse and Relapse Prevention
Relapse is a process that happens over a period of time (short or long term) when a woman in recovery starts to pull away from her strong support network and returns to old behaviors and risky situations that may tempt her to begin drinking or abusing drugs again.
Understanding Continuing Care
Continuing Care is a group for women to meet regularly to review how to use the recovery skills they learned in a residential or outpatient program and apply them to their daily lives.

Q&A with author Amy Hatvany: Learn what inspired Amy to write Best Kept Secret
Eliminating the Stigma of Addiction—
One Person at a Time

Florence Crowther is a recovering alcoholic. She started drinking in 1967. She quit drinking in 1985. And she has remained sober ever since. But, Florence will tell you, if it wasn’t for an event that could have ended in tragic results, today she might still be drinking, or even worse, be dead.

Alumna Norah O’Neill, Author of Flying Tigress
Alumna Norah O’Neill’s memoir Flying Tigress (1995) is the story of the first woman pilot hired by Flying Tigers, the macho, globe-straddling, cargo airline started by World War II flying aces.

My Sobriety is a Badge of Honor
I have a strong family history of drug and alcohol addiction. I first came to the Res in 1995; my Aunt was an alum and she was really active in Sober Gals. I flew up from California, where I was living at the time, and spent 28 days in residential treatment.
Living My Life in Recovery – One Day at a Time
I finally surrendered my life to God, and the promises are coming true, one day at a time!

I came to the Res on April 13, 2007, and from the minute I walked in those doors, I knew my “Gig” was up. I knew that if I didn’t ask for help, I might not be back.
Recovery—A Celebration of a New Life
My blonde, blue-eyed five-year old is now the joy of my life. Whether we are roller skating, cuddling on the couch, or watching a movie—we love talking and giggling just like many moms and daughters.
Oh, No, Not Me…I Never Lost Control
It was easy for me to tell myself I was different than “those other people” because I had more knowledge and more self-restraint— that I would never allow myself to appear drunk or fall down or vomit on my own shoes and therefore, I was not an alcoholic. And I have been a competitive athlete for a long time, and athletes aren’t alcoholics.
Alumna Story: Alice
Before getting sober, I drank and drugged daily for 10 years. It used to be fun and then it wasn’t. The days of happy hour and “recreational drug use” were long over.

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