CULTURE WATCH : Wishing You the Very (Sober) Best

Your best friend has finally gotten sober, and you’d like to give a little something to show your support, but a trip to the card shop reveals that nothing has quite the right sentiment. Worry no more, the Hallmark Card Co. has come to the rescue.

Making use of such sayings as “one day at a time,” Hallmark has jumped on the recovery wagon with a new line of greeting cards, T-shirts, coffee mugs, magnets and other items.

In recent years, recovery programs have spawned a cottage industry of related items that have been sold in such specialty shops as A Vision for You in Culver City. Now Hallmark is bringing recovery into the mainstream with its Just for Today line.

The company estimates that there are 15 million Americans attending support groups for alcohol and drug addictions and other problems and 100 million more, nearly half the population, supporting their efforts to stay clean.

With so many in the “recovery community,” Hallmark seems to be on to an inspirational gold mine.

With messages like “You expected a miracle and you got one,” or “Your recovery is something I had hoped and prayed for,” Hallmark hopes to appeal to that audience.

Not everyone is entirely pleased with the messages, however. For example, one woman who has been a member of a 12-step program for many years questioned the idea of a prepackaged card for making amends for past behavior.