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Upon Wakening, Joan M. Lovelace

Theses

Upon awakening is a memoir essay that details the free fall from my prime into the disease of addiction, which took everything from me but the one thing I willingly would have given: my life. Instead, alcoholism dragged me on a horrifying public journey that began in a secret place in my mind.

At first, only I knew the trouble I was in, as I began drinking from the liquor bottles in the wet bar of our home. As my craving for booze grew beyond my control, I lost my career as a television journalist, my self-respect, my dignity and …