99 Bottles (ePub)

My name is Lisa. I'm the mother of three. I'm an enabler and the wife of an alcoholic. I'm sad. I'm hopeful. I'm scared. Despite more than a decade of living with an alcoholic, I'm still very much in love. Like so many others, I don't know what to do.

This is my story. Yet somehow, I believe, it's also our story.

* Seventy-six million Americans, about 43 percent of the U.S. adult population, have been exposed to alcoholism in the family.

* Roughly one in eight American adult drinkers is an alcoholic or experiences problems due to the use of alcohol.

* Separated and divorced men and women are three times as likely as married men and women to say they had been married to an alcoholic or problem drinker.

* Almost two-thirds of separated and divorced women, and almost half of separated or divorced men, under age 46, have been exposed to alcoholism.

For two decades, Lisa Livingston has watched her husband drown himself in booze. She's done everything she can to help him or, at least, understand why he can't embrace a sober life. They have, after all, everything they've ever dreamed of. As Jeff's drinking escalates, Lisa must make a decision. But with love in the mix, it's not always as easy as it seems. 99 Bottles is story of a middle-aged woman married to an alcoholic, desperately trying to define and understand herself. What will it take for Lisa to make a change and what decision will she make?

Through Lisa's personal journey, 99 Bottles exposes the too-often secret moments of hope, despair, triumph and heartache millions face in living with an alcoholic.