Dana Bowman - Bottled: A Moms Guide to Early Recovery

Special Praise for Bottled

An extremely touching journey from alcoholic mom to recovery hero, filled with brutal honesty but also a surprising amount of laughs. A must-read for anyone who can relate, knows someone who can, or just loves memoirs. Filled with helpful lists for the newly recovering and packed with laughsI highly recommend!

Stefanie Wilder-Taylor, Author of Sippy Cups Are Not for Chardonnay and the blog Baby on Bored at stefaniewildertaylor.com

Bottled brilliantly illustrates the complexities of managing the roles of a wife, mother, and teacher who danced with addiction and, ultimately, emerged stronger for it. Bowman has an uncanny ability to bring out what is light and funny in even the darkest of times, with quirky How To lists at the end of each chapter.

Tonya Meeks, MA, LMFT, Certified Field Model Interventionist, Author of Flying Standby, and Creator of the workshop Telling the Truth on Stage: Healing Trauma and Addiction through Performance

Full of vulnerability, courage, and grace. Bowman shares her story with wisdom and humor, and speaks to the beautiful messiness in us all: our struggles with perfectionism, fitting in, and all the feelings. A must-read for anyone who has struggled with addiction, but also a story for every mother out there. Sit back, pour yourself a cup of (freaking) tea and be ready to laugh, cry, and feel like youre not alone.

Ellie Schoenberger, Author of Let Me Get This Straight, Founder of Shining Strong, Inc. and The Bubble Hour podcast

Without glossing over the gory details, Bowman tells her story with complete vulnerability, self-awareness, and humor. Her tips on surviving recovery and motherhood will help anyone navigating the sharper edges of life. She offers what so many addicts say they need: a Handbook for Life. Bottled is funny, captivating, comforting, and full of hope.

May Wilkerson, Huffington Post Contributor and Former Senior Editor at Substance.com

Whatever your particular struggle, do not miss this hilarious and redemptive memoir by Dana Bowman. Bottled will make you laugh out loud, nod your head in agreement, and maybe shed a few tears as Bowman shares a page-turning account of her journey through marriage, motherhood, and recovery.

Allison K. Flexer, Author of Truth, Lies, and the Single Woman

Whether its a transition or a tragedy, we are all recovering from something, and we all need a little honesty and humor to make it through. Thats exactly what Dana provides in Bottled. Shes brutally honest about pregnancy, depression, alcoholism, triggers, parenting and, yesrecovery. Journey through the messy and drama-filled life of a recovering alcoholic, self-proclaimed over-reactor and zombie-mom. Youll never look at carrot cake the same way again!

Kasey Johnson, Author of Mom Essentials, 7 Ways to Be a S.M.A.R.T.E.R. Mom, and the blog SmarterMoms.com

Dana discusses the serious topic of alcoholism, which affects millions of people, with humor and a whole lot of grace. Her recovery is inspiring and her journey is real, but her ability to laugh though the pain is what will heal the many who read this book. Moms will no doubt relate to it, but so will daughters, sisters, wives, and all women who need a friend to walk with them in early recovery. Dana is that friend.

Crystal Renaud, Author of Dirty Girls Come Clean

Bottled is wildly entertaining, and provides a host of practical tips for moms going through the difficult stages of early sobriety. Dana reveals the very real and authentic struggle for moms in recovery, with humor and humility. A must-read for recovering moms, but also a wonderful book for any mom who may struggle with parenting small humans while attempting to stay sane.

Megan Peters, Author of the blog Crazybananas.com

BOTTLED

Central Recovery Press (CRP) is committed to publishing exceptional materials addressing addiction treatment, recovery, and behavioral healthcare topics, including original and quality books, audio/visual communications, and web-based new media. Through a diverse selection of titles, we seek to contribute a broad range of unique resources for professionals, recovering individuals and their families, and the general public.

For more information, visit www.centralrecoverypress.com.

2015 by Dana Bowman

All rights reserved. Published 2015.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

Publisher: Central Recovery Press

3321 N. Buffalo Drive

Las Vegas, NV 89129

20 19 18 17 16 15 1 2 3 4 5

ISBN: 978-1-937612-98-6 (e-book)

Photo of Dana Bowman by Erica Heline

Publishers Note: This is a memoir, a work based on fact recorded to the best of the authors memory. Central Recovery Press books represent the experiences and opinions of their authors only. Every effort has been made to ensure that events, institutions, and statistics presented in our books as facts are accurate and up-to-date.

To protect their privacy, the names of some of the people and institutions in this book have been changed.

This book contains general information about addiction, addiction recovery, and related matters. The information is not medical advice and should not be treated as such. Central Recovery Press makes no representations or warranties in relation to the information in this book. If you have any specific questions about any medical matter discussed in this book, you should consult your doctor or other professional healthcare provider. This book is not an alternative to medical advice from your doctor or other professional healthcare provider.

Cover design by David Hardy

Interior design by Sara Streifel, Think Creative Design

To Christopher Scott

You are loved

Table of Contents

To Central Recovery Press: Thank you for taking a chance on me. I hope to make you proud. And to Eliza, the coolest editor ever: Thank you for putting up with all my cat memes. You are simply the best.

To my sober sisters and brothers: You are my ever-present lifeboat. You kept saying, It will get better, and yep, you were right. Thank you.

To the Booze-Free Brigade: I lift my La Croix to all of you. Thank you. You know how special you are.