Drunk Again...

[kingbeefy]

As I am letting loose a bit again on a Saturday night I thought I would share a story.

My dad quit drinking when I was in middle school and hasn't had a drop since. He told a story of one night when he was drinking, he had just got home from the bar. We lived in a split foyer house and as he got halfway up the steps to the landing and turned to go up the second set of steps my mom was standing at the top with her hands on her hips and said, "drunk again". He looked up and said, "me too". Needless to say that wasn't the response she was looking for.

She passed away after a battle with cancer in 2006, her last years with my sober dad were fantastic, and the stories he has to tell of his pre-sober days are pretty good as well.

I'm very proud of him and I miss her dearly.

I'm not sure how well the story translates through text, but I was thinking about it, chuckled, and thought I would share.

[badwhale]

Great story!

I'm sure I'll have a good log of stories some day for kid-o to talk about.

[CoventryCat86]

LMAO, great story!

I've never quite understood the all or nothing drinking thing.....lots of people are missing out on some of the finer things in life, like an occasional glass of good scotch or a glass of a fine wine when they go the AA route of "I can't have another drop of alcohol for as long as I live" instead of simply exercising some self control.

Oh well, their loss.

[cinda]

Funny story....thanks for sharing!

[badwhale]

LMAO, great story!

I've never quite understood the all or nothing drinking thing.....lots of people are missing out on some of the finer things in life, like an occasional glass of good scotch or a glass of a fine wine when they go the AA route of "I can't have another drop of alcohol for as long as I live" instead of simply exercising some self control.

Oh well, their loss.

It's just like someone having cancer, or a suicide. Oh well, their loss.

ETA: I should clarify that what I'm saying is it's not their choice to have an addiction, or a disease. This is a sensitive subject for me & those close.

[kingbeefy]

It's just like someone having cancer, or a suicide. Oh well, their loss.

ETA: I should clarify that what I'm saying is it's not their choice to have an addiction, or a disease. This is a sensitive subject for me & those close.

I would agree. Everybody handles things different and I admire those who know their limitations. If you can handle a drink or two and just relax it is a great pleasure. If you tend to never be able to stop at just one, it becomes a great disaster. My dad realized after years of heavy drinking that he would never be the kind of guy who could have just one, and when it nearly caused a divorce with him and my mom he proved his commitment to her was greater.

He has also told stories of when he had just quit, he would wake up in the middle of the night, go downstairs to a bar he had built, pour a drink, and stand staring at it and shaking he wanted it so bad. It certainly was an addiction for him, not a source of enjoyment or relaxation.

[WinstonSpencer]

Thanks for sharing.

[CptnBlues63]

I liked the story KB....thanks for sharing!

Your dad has my complete respect for being able to get off, and stay off the booze!

I would agree. Everybody handles things different and I admire those who know their limitations. If you can handle a drink or two and just relax it is a great pleasure. If you tend to never be able to stop at just one, it becomes a great disaster. My dad realized after years of heavy drinking that he would never be the kind of guy who could have just one, and when it nearly caused a divorce with him and my mom he proved his commitment to her was greater.

He has also told stories of when he had just quit, he would wake up in the middle of the night, go downstairs to a bar he had built, pour a drink, and stand staring at it and shaking he wanted it so bad. It certainly was an addiction for him, not a source of enjoyment or relaxation.

I'm one of the "can't stop" group and I've been sober since 1988. I wish I didn't understand not being able to stop and envy those who don't understand. But I'm a binge drinker and once I start, I don't....make that "can not" stop until the booze and/or money are all gone or I pass out. To make matters worse, I blanked every single time I ever drank and have no memory of events that transpired during the drinking.

There are times where I wish I could sip a nice glass of rye whiskey with a cigar, have a cold beer on a hot day or just sip a bit of wine with a meal. But that's not going to happen. I might get away with it once or twice but eventually I'd have that second drink and that would be the end of my life as I've worked to make it.

I know it can be hard to understand. One of my oldest and best friends in the world didn't get it. It took some patient explaining before the light bulb went off over his head. Let it suffice to say my family and friends were all happy when I got sober. It turns out in the end, I'm pretty happy about it too. I have good life, a woman I love by my side (who loves me back!!!!) and was able to raise a child to adulthood. None of that would have ever happened had I kept on drinking. In fact, drinking cost me two serious relationships, one that was a marriage and the source of my son who was born in 1989. In the end, her drinking (yeah, she was and still is a "practicing alcoholic") and me fighting to stay sober is what ended that relationship and I went on to raise my kid alone for the next 10 years.

[ggiese]

LMAO, great story!

I've never quite understood the all or nothing drinking thing.....lots of people are missing out on some of the finer things in life, like an occasional glass of good scotch or a glass of a fine wine when they go the AA route of "I can't have another drop of alcohol for as long as I live" instead of simply exercising some self control.

Oh well, their loss.

Will - I'm right there with you... It is a very sensitive issue for me and my family...


Bill - imagine being deprived of the one thing that you are compelled to believe is absolutely what you need but know that if you take one drink it will result in you losing everything you have. I cannot think you can imagine it because it seems so unreal...

I, like you, do not have a problem with alcohol consumption. It's very easy for me to say that an alcoholic should exercise "self control" to resolve their "problem". However - I once had a very deep discussion with a recovering alcoholic and he put it into better perspective for me.

He told me - "You know when you go to a bar - you can sit down, have a beer or two - and get up and leave with a half of a beer in your glass?" I said "Of course. And I can't understand how others are not able to do that either". He reponded, "Well - not only can I not leave my half of a beer behind, but I fight with everything I have inside of me to not drink all of those other half beers everyone else left behind..."

You should be absolutely grateful you don't have the disease of alcoholism - so that you can enjoy an occasional dram of scotch, or a nice glass of wine. With alcoholism there is no "control". There is only complete abstinance - for the rest of their life. Every recovering alcoholic I know literally cannot touch a drop of alcohol or they could seriously relapse - with literally the compulsion being as strong decades later as the day after they quit ...

...up to and including alcohol cooked into their food.