My journey to sobriety
Lou Harrand is the founder and creator of Sobrietybomb
Lou is a true Yorkshire Lass
Born in 1973, Lou grew up in a village North of York with her parents and sister. After a brief stint down south for University Lou hastily returned up north to Yorkshire where she now lives with her husband and three children.
Drinking was always present as Lou was growing up, being a teenager living in a village there was the first time drinks down the park, making bottles of mixers, blagging entry into the known pubs in town to have a cider or 2… having an older sibling helped! University established regular drinking, with sports socials and plenty of house parties. This was the time when black out drinking first happened.
Leaving Uni to return to York, Lou started work as a teacher. Drinking was put on the back burner for a while, every now and again there would be a ‘big night out’ and the stop button didn’t seem to work!
As the years passed Lou’s social scene expanded with work nights out, girls nights out, ‘any excuse for a night out’ nights out, charity events, school mums nights out, the list goes on… The vodka and Diet Coke (with no ice) turned into vodka and tonic, the Leibfraumilch turned into Sauvignon Blanc. Strong relationships were formed with Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Malbec, Champagne was always a fave too…. you can see where this is going!
In her late 30’s a regular drinking pattern was established, with drinking at home becoming a thing too. Having 3 children meant that going out wasn’t always a possibility so home entertaining became a frequent weekend event. Always wanting to be the last one standing, and the life and soul of any party, Lou soon established herself as a party girl and as a couple Lou and Greg would host house parties, dinner parties, garden parties, and were regularly invited to boozy events, corporate all expenses paid days out… you get the picture. Alcohol was always involved and Lou was very good at topping up everyone else’s drinks, obviously ensuring that her own got topped up first.
At home, opening that bottle of wine at the end of the school day got earlier and more habitual, and soon one bottle wasn’t hitting the spot. Lou would often drink the majority of a bottle whilst making dinner then open another to sit down with in front of the TV, heaven forbid if Greg ever wanted a glass! This would often lead to Lou falling asleep on the sofa and it got to the point where Greg left her there, as Lou was too drunk to accept that going to bed would be a better option.
Social events got messier, blackout drinking became a regular occurrence, with friends and family having to fill in the blanks the next day. Days were lost to hangovers, parenting was pushed aside, shame, regret and promises to try and moderate were plentiful, still Lou carried on.
June 2017 was a pivotal point. After a boozy corporate gig Lou found herself in a precarious situation, in a place that scared her and shocked her into realising that something had to give. Was drinking really more important than her marriage and children?