I attended a Christian Science Sunday School from age four to twenty and also joined The Mother Church. But during and after college I found myself drifting away from this teaching. Even with my Science background, I found the social environment of bars and drinking very attractive.
Shortly after leaving college, I began working as a waitress to earn extra income. Although I never intended to serve alcoholic beverages, I soon found myself working as a cocktail waitress. When I moved to a distant state I sought out another cocktail waitress job and eventually was placed in the position of managing the hiring and training of a staff of waitresses for a corporation owning four large nightclubs.
During these years, I was smoking, drinking, swearing, and using drugs very freely. I was submerged in this life style. Needless to say, I was not practicing Christian Science, although it was still filtering into my life through contact with my mother and by means of a subscription to the Christian Science Sentinel given to me by a family friend. For this loving gesture I will always be grateful. During many moments of depression I turned to the Sentinel for comfort—often just to read the testimonies.
