Stumbling Blindly Toward Grace
A messy and miraculous memoir
by Yvonne Marie Garvey

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You can’t be blind and drunk. Well, you can, but it’s messy. In Stumbling Blindly Toward Grace, Yvonne Garvey shares a raw, unflinching, and darkly funny account of her descent into addiction, heartbreak, and the slow unravelling of her vision. From childhood stitches and suburban dysfunction to full-blown addiction, domestic violence, and the terrifying realization that her liver—and life—were failing, Yvonne’s story is both harrowing and hopeful. Diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease and teetering on the edge of death at forty, Yvonne’s world began to dim, both literally and figuratively. Somewhere between blackout nights and hospital beds, misguided love and a growing sense that something had to give, a different kind of clarity began to emerge. What follows is a messy, miraculous rebirth through sobriety, spiritual growth, yoga, and community. Told with biting honesty and sharp wit, this memoir doesn’t offer easy redemption. It offers something more honest: the possibility that even in the darkest moments, something unexpected can take root. A shift. A spark. A stumble toward something like grace.

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Yvonne Garvey is a writer, recovery advocate, and member of both Alcoholics Anonymous and the Canadian Council of the Blind. With twenty-seven years of lived experience in addiction and over three years in sobriety, her work sheds light on the messy realities of alcoholism, invisible disability, and the long, imperfect road to healing. Yvonne’s writing has appeared previously in Blank Spaces magazine. Stumbling Blindly Toward Grace is her debut book. She lives in Peterborough, Ontario, with her beloved English bulldog, Winnie. When she’s not writing, she guides clients through yoga, meditation, and Reiki sessions, speaks at recovery events, or supports others on their journey through vision loss and addiction recovery. Connect with her at www.ymgcreations.com, on Instagram @missvonners, or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/yvonne.marie.garvey.

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Contributors

Author

Yvonne Marie Garvey