This is Annie Grace and you're listening to this naked mind podcast where without

judgment, pain or rules, we explore the role of alcohol in our lives and culture.

Hi, this is Annie Grace and welcome to this naked mind podcast. Today I'm here with the naked life story. I have James James. Welcome. How are you?

I am well. How are you? Good. Good. So I've heard, you know, no, a little bit about your story, but why don't you just like walk us all the way way back to the beginning and start there?

Sure. Yes, the first time I had beer was a sip when I was 10. I believe it was Christmas or Thanksgiving and my alcohol, give me a sip of beer. It was disgusting.

I never drank anything after that. When I was 16, I saw more in high school. I went to a Catholic High School. So there were a mix of kids from the surrounding towns and I had some friends from Worcester where I live now and had great idea to grab some beer. So I think it was five of us. We helped shift in five, ten bucks and we've got a case of Narragansett.

So at Friday night, I went to my buddy Joe's house and we went into the woods and I drank six Narragansett's my first time drinking.

It was definitely drunk. My parents were coming to pick me up later that night and if I was walking to the car, my mom said to my dad, he's drunk.

My dad, no, he's not. Well, I hopped in the car, sure enough, I freaked the booze. Got sick on the car right home.

The next day, I got up and I didn't have a hang-up. I got up. I was grounded, obviously. I had chores to do and remember my mom being so mad that I didn't suffer from hang-over.

I didn't touch alcohol. I was about 1920 after that. Substitute alcohol with marijuana. Alcohol for me, I grew up in a small town. I didn't know anyone who was 21 or who could buy. I knew kids who could get marijuana.

So I did that for until I was 19. So when I was 19, I went to a technical school. I do heating and air conditioning for a living.

And there were no vokesples here like we have now. So there was one out in the suburbs of Chicago. So I moved out there for 13 months now. The school drug testing.

So I stopped marijuana because I didn't want to get kicked out. I was paying for it. But I had roommates that were 21. So drinking involved from that. And I came home with quite a drinking.

I was drinking, I mean I drank all the time. I was 21 at the time, 21-22 at the time. When I moved back to Massachusetts, I lived with my parents and ages.

I was hiding alcohol. My mom, she's tough. She would go through my room and find my empty bed.

I had an intervention with my therapist, my parents, and one of my cousins who was concerned when I was 22.

And that didn't do anything. So I drank. I hid my drinking a lot. I rarely went out to the bars.

I wasn't barfied and have a ton of friends.

Got it.

I moved out my wife or my fiance at the time. We bought a house in 2005. And we moved out there.

I was in the house and I really can't remember. I mean, she is the one reason my drinking was control. I feel that she wasn't in my life. It would have been a complete 180.

...