Cast of characters …
- Leesy — (51) I am a punk rocker and a guardian of small things. I still carry a blanket. I am scared of almost everyone. If you line up a hundred folks, I’ll pick four. These I shall love infinitely and with abandon. Dogs are my people. Dogs are my higher power. My sober date is April 17, 2026.
- Gideon — (23) Gideon is 23-going-on-90. Like me, he believes he is “too much.” But too much for some people is just right for others, and Gideon is just right for me. We are friends. When he calls, I’ll probably answer. Gideon speaks in songs and curates this project’s soundtrack, The Record Straight. Dogs are his higher power too. The name Gideon comes from the Old Testament and means “mighty warrior.”
- Willow — ( 5 months) Gideon’s puppy and my self-appointed goddaughter. Hyper, as every good puppy should be. Willow is the only one in this list who goes by her actual name.
- Helen — (80) My sponsor, the only person in AA — yet! — who “loves me until I can love myself.” Helen is unusually beautiful, inside and out. She is slender with olive skin, and each of her big brown eyes is encircled by a blue ring, which fascinates me. Helen is a punk rocker also, which I know because half of her white hair is dyed turquoise, and half is dyed purple — her favourite color. She has four cats and 13 years of sobriety. Helen’s nom de plume honors Helen Mirren, who’s a badass just like her.
- Sally — (72) My annoyingly accurate best friend, who is 72 and has 30+ years clean. Sally loves dogs as much as Gideon and I do — perhaps even more than we do (if that’s possible, but it’s probably not possible). In any case, she gets them completely, and she gets me completely when I want to talk about them for hours. Susan is also fond of chocolate, college football, gardens, suntans, books, shopping, and 500-piece puzzles (in that order). She is not fond of phone calls, AT&T, or Donald Trump (not in that order — she’d happily butcher Trump with a spoon). Sally is called Sally because she seems like a Sally.
- Audrey — (Early 40s) My friend to whom I send inappropriately long texts. Once, I sent Margot a proper letter, in an actual envelope. I don’t know her last name, so I addressed it to “Audrey, with pretty hair, who looks like a ballerina and wears quite stylish shoes.” Audrey is new to recover too, and her nom de plume honors the dear Audrey Hepburn.
- Margot — (30) Margot has had a fucking hard life and doesn’t whine about it. She is a hard worker, smart, capable, and going places — even if she can’t see it yet. I see it. Margot and I are wildly different — she’s young and has energy — but we have a blast together all the same. Audrey, Margot, and I came into AA around the same time. Margot is named Margot in homage to Margo Timmins, the lead singer of the Cowboy Junkies. Her truck is named Beast.
- Lucas — (Age withheld) In AA you’re not allowed to date for one year, but you must surely find yourself an AA crush or you’ll never go when you don’t want to go. Lucas is my AA crush. He has no idea. I plan to keep it that way.
- Eliza — (TBD) My future dog, whom I will adopt on April 16, 2027, a year-to-the-day of becoming sober. She may or may not yet exist. She is everything I want and need; she is the light at the end of the tunnel; she is the whole point.
