Dark Wine Waters: My Husband of a Thousand Joys and Sorrows

Simone's (Professor Emeritus, Marshall Univ., Huntington, WV) memoir begins when she meets her husband, Terry, after she takes a risk and calls a guy she's never met out of the blue. The two connect immediately, and soon they are a couple. Eventually, however, Terry's drinking turns the romance sour—but that's not the end of the story. Simone characterizes herself as a codependent, addicted to her spouse as much as he was addicted to alcohol. Together they deal with Terry's addiction, rehab, and relapse, again and again. Each time, Simone believes Terry is as committed to recovery as she is. "Denial is the hub of the addiction wheel; it drives every spoke of the disease," she writes. The author carries the water/sailing metaphor from the first line of her story ("I live in currents") through to the end, even referencing it in excerpts from her journal and in quoted words from her therapist. While aspects of the author's account are bleak, it ends with her in a 12-step program for families, suggesting a hopeful outcome.