Addiction Recovery Story #29, Hydrangea: The Case of the Candy Queen

This is a biggie. Wait until you hear what happened with the blue box of exquisite chocolate this week. Here is the latest in my flower-titled story series about sugar/overeating addiction recovery, started 1/31/21. (What picture should come first — the blue Hydrangea or the blue candy box? Right, the flower.)

The Nikko Blue Hydrangea from Nature Hills Nursery in Omaha, Nebraska. Notice how the vibrant flowers are in the forefront; the past is a blur.

This is the 29th story in my series but might be the most pivotal one.

This is the tale of breaking up with chocolate. Being able to look that passionate lover in the eye and #resist. I no longer choose, no longer need, to succumb to her charms. I no longer swoon in her presence.

Slip on your 1980s shoes (conservative pumps for women, maybe Bass Weejuns for men) and zip back with me now to the mid-1980s, my first years in the New York City magazine world.

I was a rather naive young woman from Dumont, a quiet bedroom suburb, so-called because many residents worked in New York but laid their heads to rest in more affordable Jersey. Landing in the Fashion Department at Woman’s Day, like a fresh sponge, I soaked up label names — from Liz Claiborne to Diane von Furstenberg. (Oh, how I longed for the DVF wrap dress I tried on at Bergdorf Goodman one lunchtime.)