Marion’s Story: Changing a Lifetime of Drinking in Her 70s

Can you tell me about yourself?

I’m retired. I spent 40 years working in the book publishing industry, which is pretty boozy, and I live alone. I’d come to the end of a long marriage, nearly 40 years, which came to an end, and I moved.

How much were you drinking before joining Just the Tonic?

I’d never thought about units, but I did tots it up, and it was 77 units a week, which sort of shocked me. I drank wine, and I drank gin and tonic. I was sort of famous for it… people used to say to me, “I’ll have a gin and tonic, but not a Marion,” which was about five times as strong as everybody else’s.
I was drinking alone, and that was the thing that I was worried about.

How long had you been drinking like this?

I’d always been a drinker — the publishing world is a drinking world. But it went up because I had so much time after I retired. I’d given up for a maximum of 3 months some years before with a different program, but it didn’t take long before I just slipped back into my drinking ways.

What made it escalate?

Retirement was a big factor. I had so much more time to just be alone. On a lovely summer’s day, sitting outside my summer house in my garden and thinking, “now’s the time to sit and read with a drink in my hand.” It was always that.

I also had a long, ongoing legal problem that was a blight on life, and when there was a horrible letter, my default response was to not deal with it straight away and reach for a glass.
So I drank for pleasure, and for when things were difficult.

What was the impact on your life?

I was terrified of dementia. I’m in my early 70s. Every time I lost my glasses, or couldn’t find my keys, or couldn’t remember somebody’s name, or woke up in the morning and couldn’t remember what I watched on television the night before, I really was scared.

I’ve always been very good with words — I spent my life being a book editor — and I would get stuck on a word, and that absolutely terrified me.
I knew alcohol was not helping me. I was stuck in a place that I couldn’t unstick myself from by myself.

What was your rock bottom?

It wasn’t anything dramatic. It was knowing that my recall of events and conversations was getting poorer, and that was happening more. I just felt, and I had done for years, that I didn’t know how to sort of free myself.

That’s when my cranial osteopath, one of the few people I’d talked to about it, sent me a Just the Tonic link. I read it and thought, that speaks to me.

What changed when you quit?

Everything. I have a feeling of calm confidence. I’ve slowed down my thought processes. I’m much more capable of dealing with whatever life might throw at me.
I have better powers of concentration.

The best benefit is being in the moment.
I remember coming back from a sailing trip in Greece where cheap Greek wine and boats go together — and I did not have one drink on that boat, which was extraordinary. I enjoyed having conversations, remembered where I went, and I felt different.

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How do you feel about alcohol now?

My taste buds have changed. I had a taste of expensive wine at a family lunch recently and thought, I don’t really like it. It’s quite bitter.
I’d rather stick to alcohol-free beer.

I know for an absolute fact that I’m never going to drink in the way that I used to.
I will never go back to where I was before.

How has your life changed since quitting alcohol?

I feel more energetic. I’m much prouder of the fact that I’m feeling pretty fit.
My memory is better — I have a much better recall of films, theatre, and conversations.

I’ve had a birthday without a drink for the first time in living memory, and it was lovely.
I feel like I’m looking ahead to a life that’s changed. I’m going to be able to deal with things in a way that’s more intelligent and more likely to have a better result.

I’m in a much better place.

👉 Benefits of an Alcohol-Free Life

What would you tell others struggling?

I would say to them, it works.
I would say, you won’t believe that it will work. It won’t work for you… it might work for other people… it can’t be that quick.
And I would say those are all the things that I thought — but I was wrong.

It did work, and it was quick.
It’s tough, I would say. But once you’re in it, and you’ve made that investment, you don’t want to duck out.
Laying it on the table, being honest, was very empowering.

I would say: Do it.

Ready to Change Your Relationship with Alcohol?

If Marion’s story resonates with you, you’re not alone — and you don’t need willpower to change.
Just The Tonic Coaching offers a proven, neuroscience-based method designed for real people with real lives.

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