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Anonymous
1
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We’re going for a ride, just me,
Mommy and, my little sister. We don’t drive for long
and are soon at a store I’ve never seen before; I wish
I could read. Mommy quickly turns around in her seat and
says, “Stay, I’ll be right back." We sit and wait
for what seemed like forever!
Here she comes, she has something;
it’s a brown paper bag. She gets in the car, I ask,
“What did you get Mommy?” She does not answer; she
only continues to drink from her paper bag. We’re
driving around silently; I don’t understand why mommy
won’t share her drink with us.
Mommy starts to pull into the driveway
but does not remove her seat belt. She is looking at me very
angrily. I now understand that she intends to leave my
sister and myself here by ourselves. What I don’t
understand is why she would leave a two year old and a six
year old home alone. All I know is that my sister needs me
to take care of her, she is just as confused as I am but
more so.
Mommy hasn’t come home yet and
it’s almost dark. Daddy should be home from work soon
and will be mad that mommy left us alone. My auntie has
always told me that if we get scared to call her and she
will come and get us. It’s been a couple of hours and
I’ve finally decided to call her. She seems very
worried that mommy had left. She asked me where we went
today, I told her about the store and the strange paper bag.
She quickly responds saying she would be there in a couple
minutes.
She wasn’t lying, she’s here
and it seemed like no time at all. She pulls in and I
immediately run to her and start to sob. She does nothing
but holds me and says everything is going to be ok. My sobs
are interrupted by the sound of Daddy’s truck. He
begins pulling into the driveway; he and auntie make eye
contact. Why is Daddy so sad? Why is auntie
leaving?
Mommy’s car then pulls into the
driveway. Mommy is in the passenger seat and it looks like
she’s sleeping. Is mommy sick? What is wrong? Dad goes
outside; he picks mom up and takes her to their room. He
lays her down turns to me and says, “Mommy needs to
sleep now.” Auntie looks at me, she can see the hurt
and fear in my eyes, she knows that mommy scares me when she
is like this; she knows mommy is like this a lot. She goes
into my room, packs some clothes for my sister and me, turns
to us and says, “Come on, you’re staying at my
house tonight. Auntie’s house makes everything
better.
As I grew older I had learned that on
that night my mom was drinking alcohol while she was
driving. My aunt had found her and her car parked in an
empty parking lot. I’m not the only person whose life
has been affected by alcohol but I wish I was the
last.
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Anonymous
2
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The sound of his fists pounding
on the door echoed into the closet, with each one the door
shook. “Mommy my head hurts,” a sad little girl
struggled to say through her sobs. “Its okay baby,
we’re safe in here.” The girl’s mother tried
to soothe her, but her attempts were lost behind the
man’s drunken words.
“Would it help if we sang a song
sweetie?” the girl’s mother asked.
“Can we sing my favorite
song?”
So they sang; “You are my
sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are
grey. You’ll never know dear how much I love you. So
don’t take my sunshine away.” They sang for what
seemed like hours; while the girl’s father attempted to
yell and punch his way through the door.
The young girl stopped singing and
asked her mother why her daddy is a bad man. Her mom started
to speak, then paused, and started over.
“Your father makes a lot of bad
choices when he drinks. He can’t seem to get enough,
even though it makes him feel bad, and
angry.”
“Is that why he hits you; because
he’s angry? You didn’t do anything wrong, did you
Mommy?”
“No sweetie, Daddy is just angry
with himself and can’t control what he does or what he
says, especially when he drinks.”
The little girl’s questions
continued, like the sound of her father’s fists on the
door. However, her words were soft and filled with worry.
The girl wanted to know why her daddy wanted to hurt her
mommy, and why he needed to be so loud all the time. She
just wanted to know why. Her questions stopped, when she
heard sirens. The sirens seemed to be getting louder; they
sounded like they were right outside their house. Moments
later they heard more yelling. These words weren’t
slurred; they were clear and forceful.
The police entered the house, placed
her father in handcuffs, and removed him from their house.
After the little girl’s father was removed, her mother
carried her out of their hiding place. The young girl’s
father would only be allowed to visit her on two conditions;
he had to go to AA meetings regularly and their visits had
to be monitored.
It’s been 12 years since the
little girl’s father has taken a drink. He says that it
is the best thing he has ever done with his life. Because of
the support he got in AA, he is now allowed to be a part of
his daughter’s life.
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Anonymous
3
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Summer had just begun, I just finished
my freshman year and unfortunately all my friends just
finished with their senior year so it was going to be our
last summer with all of us together. Everyone but me was
going off to college. There was a house party up river the
night school got out. To celebrate everyone's graduation we
decided to go. We all got ready together then before the
party we stopped at another friends house along the way. We
were greeted by beer and shots, since I was pretty new to
all the partying and drinking, I'll admit I am a light
weight and I was already kind of drunk. So I decided to lay
off it for a while. As we were getting ready to leave I
watched my so called designated driver pound a couple shots.
I asked her if we should call someone to pick us up but she
said she was fine.
"I didn't even have that
many."
We must have made it no more than 10
miles before all I cold see was moving ground and trees
passing by, all I knew was we were rolling off the road. We
must have taken a corner a little too fast, the back tires
hit gravel and the car slid off a cliff into some trees and
brush. We must have rolled a good three to four times before
the car finally came to a horrific stop. Amazingly everyone
seemed to be fine for the most part. The three girls in the
back had an easy way out because the window was already
shattered and large enough for them to crawl out, but the
roof was caved in which made it nearly impossible for us in
the front to open any doors, we had to break the drivers
side window and crawl out, getting us pretty cut up. We got
up to the top of the hill and looked down at the mess,
shocked we survived. The car was done for, that we were sure
of. Every side caved in and dented up, the roof, all the
windows knocked out. The funny part is not one of the air
bags came out. We probably walked 4 or 5 miles before we
could pick up any cell service to have someone come get us.
I got a hold of one of my good friends that lives up river
and he came to our rescue. Lucky for us he was an EMT at one
time and knew just how to fix us up. Which ended up saving
us a humiliating trip to the hospital to explain ourselves.
We got pretty lucky, all we came out with were some cuts,
bruises, a couple black eyes and bloody noses none of all
too serious.
A lot of people who choose to drink
and drive had had much worse consequences. Not only what we
did was illegal, it was dangerous and stupid, we could have
been killed! The car stayed there and we kept our story to
ourselves for years. Every year over 25,000 people are
killed in alcohol related accidents. That's close to 500 a
week and over 70 people a day, don't take that kind of risk.
It was a crazy way to kick off my summer and I got pretty
lucky, but not everyone does so I wouldn't recommend trying
it. If you do, at least make sure you have a responsible,
designated driver.
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Anonymous
4
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The three of us say in my grandparents
Lincoln as we headed to the inner city of Grants Pass. My
uncle sat in the back while I drove and my Grandpa rode
shotgun. One month earlier my uncle would be driving, had he
not got pulled over that night.
My uncle is the clown that every
family seems to have, the one that is always making jokes
and poking fun at everyone. He is also the one that usually
makes family dinners worth while because he is so funny. I
can remember many Christmas and Thanksgivings dinners just
sitting at the table and seeing my entire family laughing
over funny things that my uncle would say about almost
anything, he has bee the highlight of many family events,
until this last year.
The night it happened my uncle had
gone to a bar and had drove his own truck there and had
probably been at there for a few hours and when he was done
he decided that he was safe enough to drive home, but
apparently the cop that drove behind him didn't think so,
which was why we were on this trip now. This was my uncle's
second offense of driving under the influence of alcohol and
he now had to go to court for it. The judge decided that he
needed a years suspended license and a fine that cut into a
loan they had taken out to remodel my aunt and uncles house.
My grandma was the most disappointed when she found out, she
felt like a failure at raising her son and proceeded to stay
in bed for a few days because her depression got so bad. My
grandpa also was disappointed and proceeded to tell my uncle
how he felt about it for the entire ride home. My uncle
didn't have much to say about it.
The sad truth is, his mistake affected
everyone in our family from the first day it happened. I was
now the one who had to drive his daughter to school most
mornings because he was unable to drive. His wife had the
extra responsibility of driving him where he needed to go
and doing all the errands because he had no way of getting
anywhere.
When my uncle chose to drink that
night he cost everyone, not just himself. My family has had
to pay for that night for a year now just because he wanted
to have a good time. But that good time has made a hardship
for everyone who was in immediate relation to him, just
because of a couple of drinks.
__________________________________
Cassie
Ekwall
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Growing up, alcohol was all around me.
It affect on me was the least of my worries it was all I
knew. I never thought it was bad or harmful, but that proved
wrong many times. Even after all the mistakes I made I still
would drink. I don't know why teens feel the need to drink.
It could be to fit in, enjoyment, let loose, to forget their
worries, or to forget the situation their in at the time.
Teens shouldn't have to resort to drinking in order to
forget they're problems. Drinking can never make a person
happy, all it really does is set them up for failure. So why
doesn't the community try and help?
Growing up as child I was taught right
from wrong, but that soon changed when my parents got
divorced. My mother was a bartender and my father was always
away on business, therefore I had no supervision. This
allowed me to do whatever I wanted, and drinking was what I
chose to do. With my mom being a bartender she drank all the
time. An eighteen rack is what she finished everyday before
the night was over. With my father being gone all the time
he had no idea of what was really going on in our household.
People would show up at our house everyday, drink with my
mom, then pass out, this went on for two years. With my
father working as much as he did we saw him twice a month,
if we were lucky. There was no disciplining us when he had
no clue of what was going on.
When people drink, whether it's an
adult, or a teen, their whole attitude changes. When I
drink, I feel like I'm on top of the world, indestructible,
and no one can stop me . As do most people. I've fought my
boyfriends, random girls,my sister, even my own mother.
These are some things I would have never even thought about
doing if I was sober. Drinking can lead to rape, violence,
murder, abuse,and addiction. The thing I don't understand is
why none of these things ever enter our mind at the time, we
just seem to block them out. There is a less than likely
chance of these things happening though when you are not
under the influence.
I think teens drink most of the time
for fun, but sometimes it's for more personal reasons.
Growing up can be really stressful as a child. Teens today
see all kinds of things that we don't take into account
enough. Watching your parents have a drug or substance abuse
problem affects a child more than you think. They grow up
watching their parents abuse drugs and alcohol and end up
following the same path. Teens tend to drink because they
think there is no other way to cope with their problems. Is
this true? Sadly, it is for a lot of our teens;maybe our
parents should be trying to set better examples for us to
follow.
Does our community really care about
our teens? I personally don't think they do enough. If they
did, finding a job in this town wouldn't be so hard. Giving
teens a place to go and hang out would be available for
them. As a community we need to get more involved; there
needs to be more affordable activities teens can participate
in. Living in a small town is beneficial in some ways but
not many. After looking back on my past and the mistakes I
have made, I have learned alot about myself. Being a senior
in high school has really opened my eyes to the person I was
and the person I've become. I think there is a way we just
need help finding it. If you care about your children's
future and the generations yet to come, you will do
something about it. Watch what you do around them, because
it has been proven that what you do they too will
follow.
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Anonymous
6
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My boyfriend and I lived ten hours
apart for the year and a half of our relationship. He was a
heavy drinker which caused us to argue a lot. The arguing
only led to more drinking. Sometimes when he would get
really drunk his attitude would completely change. At times
I felt like he didn’t care about my feelings. He
usually couldn’t even remember what we had talked about
by the next morning. I remember getting so frustrated with
him. But I knew that he had been drinking for a long time
and it wouldn’t be easy for him to just stop. I decided
it would be better to just let it go. So that is what I did,
I kept my feelings held back about it for a long time. I
acted like it didn’t bother me, but he could tell it
did.
After a while we started arguing more.
Both of us felt like we were starting to drift apart. And we
even had to take a break for about two months. Some of it
was probably just the fact that it was long distance, but I
believe most of it was because of drinking. We both missed
each other a lot and knew if we wanted to save our
relationship he would have to move up here and stop
drinking.
He started looking for jobs here and
found one within two months. The guy wanted him to start
right away, so about a week later he was here. Since he got
here everything has been so perfect. He hasn’t taken a
drink in four months. He got a job that he is really happy
with and we barley ever argue anymore. At least when we do
it has nothing to do with alcohol. I am so happy that he is
here now and we were able to save our relationship. We have
been together for two years now and are planning to move
soon.
I believe that alcohol was the main
problem that caused the arguing. I am so glad its out of the
picture. Now he is keeping a job and I can tell he is a lot
happier with himself. He is getting his bills paid off and
getting his education. Now that he hasn’t been drinking
he realized what it did to him all of his life and he is
changing it all around. When he was drinking he was so
unhappy with the way he looked, he would complain about his
skin always being red and being overweight. Now that he
stopped drinking he has lost weight and he is a lot happier
with the way he looks. When he first moved here he had
absolutely no money. He has told me before he got here he
could never keep more than two hundred dollars in his
pocket, and had only ever had one bank account which was
over drawn. He said almost all the money he got when to
drinking. I am so happy for him and he is also very happy.
Now he can live a normal life and have a bright
future
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Anonymous
7
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I'm drinking and partying again. He's
watching me, eyes full of desire. I don't mind: I like this
attention. I eel sexy, empowered, wanted. Next thing I know
I'm drunk and we're kissing. He leads me into a room. We're
on the bed. It's okay though because I can stop whenever I
want to. Truth is I don't want to stop. I love the way I'm
making him feel. I feel needed, even if just for a
night.
I wake up the next morning. He's in
the bed with me. My clothes are on. I'm thankful yet
disgusted with the situation. I sneak out of the room,
careful not to wake him. I don't want to talk about it,
don't what to think about it, just want to leave. I take a
shower but it doesn't wash away what happened. Maybe it
wouldn't feel as bad if this were one of the first times.
But it's not. As I'm in the shower I think back to the time
I got so drunk I cheated on one of my most serious
boyfriends, or the time that I was drinking and got taken
advantage of by one of my childhood friends, and while he
got labeled a stud, I was labeled a whore. Not to mention
the other countless times I've drank to hook up with people
just to feel needed and wanted.
Unfortunately this is a typical story
for a high school girl. Thankfully, nothing life threatening
or significantly life changing happened to me before my eyes
opened. I realized on my own and with the help of true
friends that I'm better than that. Although the reasons for
all my actions are not always clear, one thing is, if
alcohol had not been present, none of it would have
happened.
Being in high school is one of the
most difficult times as an adolescent, and with alcohol
being available around every corner it doesn't make it much
easier. Alcohol, (which sometimes seems a temporary fix to
permanent problems) is just one reason teens start to drink.
The media does not help this problem either. With popular
song lyrics such as "Lets get drunk and forget what we did,"
egging us on all the time, it's very hard to resist the
temptation to drink.
So this is my cry to high school
girls: I know what it feels like to lose yourself, but
please don't turn to alcohol as an escape. It not only can
make you do things that you are ashamed of, but you may find
yourself in a worse state of mind than you began with. The
attention you get from boys while consuming alcohol is fake
and temporary no matter that they may say. Take time to
discover your true passions in life. Surround yourself with
activities that don't involve drinking but give you just as
much satisfaction. You owe it to yourself. And if you think
that it's too late to get out of it, it's not. You just have
to open your eyes.
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Anonymous
8
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Alcohol has been very negative in my
life, but I have learned many things through it. It has made
me realize that I should be more careful about who I trust
and who my friends are.
One night my best girlfriend and I
decided to go over to one of our friend's house. We hung out
there most of the night. My friend started to get really
bored, she wanted to leave to one of her friend's house and
she wanted me to go with her. I did not want to leave, and I
knew that I shouldn't because I had been drinking a lot and
I couldn't drive. She kept trying to get me to leave wit
her, so finally I gave in and I drove us to where she wanted
to go. But I never thought it would end up the way it
did.
Once we got to her friends house we
ended up drinking more. I did not want to drink any more,
but they got me to. Hours went by and I started to get
tired: II wanted to go home and got to bed but I knew that I
could not drive. So I stayed at the house with my friend. My
stomach started to hurt, so I decided to go outside and make
myself throw up. I did not know that anyone was following
me.
He was being nice. He held my hair out
of my face, but after I was done he tried to kiss me. I
said, "No." He was fine with it, so he helped me up the
stairs and onto the bed where I started to fall asleep. My
friend ended up leaving me there alone with here friends
that I thought were my friends also.
Everyone had fallen asleep or so I
thought. The next thing I remember is that a different guy
lay on the bed by me and tried to touch me but I said, "No."
He did not like that answer. I said it many times, but he
would not listen. Some people started to wake up and that is
when he covered my mouth and told me to "Shut Up." I was
scared.
I woke up the next morning with my
cell phone alarm clock going off for me to leave. I got out
of the bed, grabbed my stuff and left. I knew what happened
the night before. I started to cry. I could not talk to
anyone about it. Not even my friend.
My father found out soon after that.
He wanted to kill the guy. I would not tell him who it was.
It is one night that I never want to happen again. So now I
stay away from drinking, and being around people that I
don't really know.
_________________________________
Anonymous
9
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I wish I had a mom who didn’t
yell at me for no reason or pick me up from school drunk. I
wish I had a mom who took an interest in me, who didn’t
just pawn me off on someone else when I needed some
attention. I wish I had a mom who was sober.
The first memory I have of when my mom
took her alcoholism out on me was when I told her I thought
I needed counseling. Her response was that I wouldn’t
get any Christmas presents if I did. It went down hill from
there. She would have blackouts where it seemed like a
completely new person was in our home. The next day she
would apologize for her behavior, whether she remembered it
or not. She was very sincere about it. It was like she was
my mom; the mom I knew in the mornings before school; the
mom who would hang out and laugh with me about
anything.
Another incident took place not too
long ago. I was laying in bed reading my Bible like any
other night, but out of no where my mom quietly peeks her
head in my room and says “see you in heaven”. I
didn’t know what to say so I told her she was crazy and
to get out of my room. All night I tossed and turned
worrying about whether or not my mom was still going to be
alive when I wake up the next day. I decided to walk to
school the next morning instead of trying to get her to
drive me. Her depression was getting so bad that all she
wanted to do was sleep and drink. So I let her sleep in hope
that the more she slept the less she would drink. All day at
school I was wondering whether or not I still had a mom.
Thank God she was sound asleep when I got home.
Over the years my resentment towards
my mother has grown immensely. Trying to be the star child
all my life was starting to get old. Everything I did was
good, but never good enough, so instead of feeling sorry for
myself, I decided I would put my energy into helping
children of alcoholics. I started by being a big sister. A
mentor to my neighbors’ six year old daughter and
eleven year old son. Mainly just trying to be there for them
and give the attention when their mom is too drunk to
care.
I also attend Alcoholics Anonymous
meetings to get better insight about the disease of
alcoholism. Witnessing these meeting opened my eyes to the
way alcohol ruins families. Along with that, they made me
realize that people really can change.
This is what gives me home day to day
the eventually my mom will hit rock bottom and seek help to
arrest her alcoholism. When that time comes I plan to fully
support her in any way possible. Whether it be visiting her
in a rehabilitation center or just giving her a
hug.
__________________________________
Anonymous
10
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My dad is an alcoholic. I don’t
know exactly how old I was when I realized all of the anger
and frustration came from alcohol, but what I do know is I
grew up afraid of my dad and that feeling was the worst
feeling imaginable!
Alcohol ruined my childhood, and I
didn’t drink a drop. I remember finding beer cans under
the bathroom sinks and hard alcohol bottles under some
newspaper in the garage or shed. My mom tried telling my dad
to get help but he always insisted he didn’t have a
problem and he would just stop drinking altogether. That
never lasted.
I was 15 years old, I remember because
I had just got my permit. I know when my dad started to play
rough with my little sisters that he’d been drinking.
One night in particular I was feeling brave and decided to
tell my dad how I felt. I told him when he drank too much he
always hurt my little sisters and it needed to stop. He
started to yell and he told me he wasn’t drunk even
though he was almost falling over with every step. He was
completely wasted and everyone in the house knew it. He got
closer and closer to me and grabbed my arm, I yanked away
and ran downstairs to my mom. She heard what was going on
upstairs and went towards my dad to talk to him. As she was
walking towards him she saw he was heading towards the gun
safe. Barefooted and scared for our lives we ran out the
back door, got into my mom’s car, and drove away as
fast as we could. That night we ended up staying at a hotel,
we thought it best to let my dad cool down before we went
back. The next morning we drove home and found that the
doors were all locked. We knocked and he came to the door
after just waking up. We went in, he went back to bed, and
that night was never talked about again.
I wish I could say that was the only
thing that ever happened when my dad drank, but that was
just a minor instance. I don’t know why my dad went
towards that gun safe, but I do know that alcohol changes
people for the worse. Sober, my dad was an amazing person.
But when he drank he became abusive and caused his family to
walk on eggshells around him in fear that he would snap at
any moment. For the past year or so my dad has cut down on
his drinking and has not laid a hand on me or my sisters for
some time. I believe when he chose to drink less, he chose
to save our family. I have so much respect for him for
making the right decision. I love my dad unconditionally and
think he is incredible person, I just wish he would have
realized sooner that alcohol was killing the people that
loved him the most.
_________________________________
Anonymous
11
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Alcohol has had a negative effect on
my life for many years. Alcohol changed my life at 18 months
old, that is when my mom and dad got separated. Because of
alcohol I didn't have a dad growing up. It was hard to see
everyone else playing with there dad's in the park, it
seemed like I was the only kid without a dad. I never
understood why my mom left him, I was always asking her why.
When I was old enough she finally told me he drank too much
and when he drank he was mean and violent, he wasn't the
same person with alcohol in him. It was still hard for me to
understand because I never saw him like, deep down I knew
she was right from all the stories I heard.
As I grew older I wanted to go live
with my dad but I was scared I didn't know if we would get
along, I didn't want to leave my mom, family or my friends.
When I was 16 my mom and I started arguing a lot and we both
needed a break. This was my chance to finally get to know my
dad. I moved out to Oregon with him and I was 17. When I
first got to Oregon I had to get use to the small town
environment and I wasn't use to how they lived, I missed my
mom a lot. My dad and step mom weren't home very much they
were at the bar all the time. I wasn't used to that my mom
wasn't a drinker. When I would talk to my dad about his
drinking he would tell me he would cut back on going to the
bar, but that only lasted a week or so before they were back
at the bar. My step mom and I got into an argument and
things have never been the same. I would stay at my brothers
or my boyfriends house for as long as possible before I had
to go home, I didn't like being around when they were drunk.
I would lye in bed some night wondering if my dad was going
to be home or not. I don't like my dad going to the bar
almost every night but I can't control him. It's his
decisions he is making. Other kids shouldn't have to wonder
where there dad is, so make the right decision and don't
become an alcoholic like my dad. It doesn't just affect you
it affects everyone around you.
__________________________________
Anonymous
12
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One weekend my friend Naomi and I were
in Medford hanging out with two of our friends. The weekends
were always boring in our own town, so we were looking
forward to the change. We were at our friends house where
everyone was drinking alcohol. Naomi and I decided to drink
a little bit since everyone else was. After a while, our two
friends had consumed a large amount of alcohol. They were
running short on beer, so they decided to go get some more.
I knew in the back of my mind that they should not be
drinking and driving; but they drove off anyway, in spite of
our concerns. I guess they cared more about drinking than
their own safety.
About a half hour later we received a
call from them informing us that they had wrecked their
truck. They didn’t have any insurance on the vehicle,
so they decided to flip the truck back over and drive off.
The truck was damaged, but still operable. They both had
some cuts on their head that were bleeding, but they thought
they would be fine. They came back to their house where
Naomi and I were waiting for them.
Even though they had just experienced
a car crash, they still continued drinking more alcohol.
After another two hours of drinking, one of our friends
began to black out. We were worried about him. He
didn’t normally act like that even when he was drunk.
He wasn’t waking up, so we decided to call the
ambulance. The EMT’s showed up and took our friend away
to the hospital.
We later found out that he had alcohol
poisoning. The loss of blood from the crash earlier made it
easy for him to get alcohol poisoning, especially with the
amount of alcohol he had consumed that evening. This
experience showed me that alcohol can make you do things
that you would not normally do. A lot of the time it can put
you, and others, in danger. I don't think drinking alcohol
is worth the consequences that come with it.
__________________________________
Anonymous
13
______________________________________________________
While I myself have been fortunate
enough not to have been impacted directly by alcohol, it
gave me a good perspective on the horrendous effect it can
cause to others.
Many of my parent's friends drink as
well as my parents and at times they can consume large
amounts of alcohol, but they are smart about it also. Things
like getting a taxi and not doing stupid things. Even though
they do this they still carry on normal life so it does tell
me you can drink but know yours limits.
On the other hand I know many people
that will drink themselves to death and not even be safe
about it. They are nothing about the consequences nor the
impact they may have on others. Throughout my life in
school, all the guest speakers I have listened to and
reports I've had to write really have made me stray away
from alcohol. It just seems there is more negative
consequences from drinking then positive. And thankfully I
have many hobbies I would rather be doing than getting
drunk. Too many times I've heard of parties going wrong
someone dies, cops come, a serious injury. If you manage to
get through all that a great hangover the next morning.
While many people don't see it the way I do I'm glad I'm
fortunate enough to see it this way. Maybe it was my parents
that helped me or the school, guess I will never really
know. If you know your body and personal limits however I
feel you can safely drink fairly often and still maintain a
healthy life as well as a little enjoyment from it. But
unfortunately many people cannot do this.
To sum it all up, drunk drives,
alcoholics, death, hangovers, trouble with the law and
health problems. All that and more just doesn't seem worth
it to me maybe that seems to appeal to others but not me.
Sure some people will never be affected by alcohol but I'd
rather not take the risk. So far I've managed to stay away
from it and hopefully I can continue to as well as my
friends.
__________________________________
Anonymous
14
______________________________________________________
The whole night was a big blur. I
remember twisting the cap to the enormous bottle of Jack
Daniel's, over & over again. Slowly the bottle began to
empty. I knew that I had to stop soon. The alcohol was
already taking over my body.
“Bet you can’t finish this
off,” one of the boys teased.
He handed me the bottle of I
don’t know what. I didn’t care though, I remember
that.
I stared into the campfire and began
to chug. Down, down went the toxic liquid. I wiped my face
and grinned at the boy.
Everyone seemed impressed, and I was
proud myself. I really wasn’t planning on getting that
drunk. I was beyond gone, past hammered; I was pretty much
done.
The rest of the events that took place
I don’t remember. Bits and pieces of things, but for
the most part I completely blacked out.
Apparently I was obnoxious and quote
“ Out of control.” But what do people expect when
one consumes as much alcohol as I had? I wouldn’t say
that makes it right, not at all. But after that alcohol is
running through your body, time is the only thing to
help.
The last brief thing I remember was
being in a tent. I was on top of this guy named Jim. I
thought he was way cute at the beginning of the night. I
didn’t know what was going on at all. I had no sense
from right or wrong.
The next morning I woke up. My head
throbbed as I set up. I knew I must’ve drank a lot, I
hardly remembered a thing.
Jim was asleep next to me. I wondered
what had happened. I began to investigate. My pants were on,
but unzipped. My bra? No where to be found. I found my shirt
on the other side of the tent. I snatched it and threw it
on. I glanced back to see what Jim was wearing. Nothing but
a pair of pale blue boxer shorts. I shuddered.
I stumbled out of the tent and threw
up on the river bar. My body ached. I looked at my knees.
Blood had soaked through my jeans. I rolled my pants up,
bruises and scrapes everywhere.
I gathered my belongings and walked to
my car. I had to be at work by eight and it was already
seven thirty. That was the least of my worries at this
point
I mustered up the courage to call Jim
later that day. I grabbed the phone and slowly dialed his
number.
Ring. Ring. Ring. I was just about to
hang up when he answered.
“Hey,” I mumbled.
“Yeah?” he
replied.
“I’m sorry, but what all
happened last night?”
Silence. My palms were sweaty and I
was shaking. Why was it taking him this long to
reply?
“ Nothing. Don’t worry about
it,” he said in a dull tone.
I hung up. I wanted to believe what he
had just said, I really did.
__________________________________
Anonymous
15
______________________________________________________
I will never forget that morning I got
the call. The call that told me I had lost one of my best
friends. Anyone who knew Peter was lucky. He was someone you
wanted to be around because is personality was infectious
and he made everyone around him happy. The only thing was
his happy personality was not all real, but merely a mask to
hide what was underneath, which was sadness. He was so much
pain and he wanted nothing more but to get rid of it.
Eventually peter found a way to hide his pain. What was his
short-term cure? Alcohol. What in turn killed
him?
Alcohol. Little did he know that
alcohol was really what was making him more depressed. He
didn’t realize that though, because when he drank it
made him feel happy and normal. He became an alcoholic.
Nobody knew how sad he was. I knew. I knew the pain he was
in. I tried to help him as much as I could but my trying
never succeeded. As much as I tried and as much effort as he
put into it, he just couldn’t . he wanted so
desperately to stop but his addiction was to strong. When he
wasn’t drinking he felt helpless.
I blamed myself for peters death for
so long because all I could keep telling myself is that you
could have tried a little harder. It was so hard to watch
him drink because every sip he took you knew he was just
trying to drink away his problems. I remember one time in
particular when I was staying at his house with his sister
and we had just fallen asleep. Peter quietly snuck into the
room like he did every time I stayed there and asked me to
come watch t.v. with him. He used to make me stay up all
night and talk with him no matter how tired I was.
That’s how we became so close. So as we were watching
t.v he got up and said he was hungry. I knew what he was
doing, so I got up and went into the kitchen and I saw him
standing there in the dark chugging a bottle of vodka. When
he realized I was standing there he quickly put it behind
his back as if I wouldn’t know. before I could say
anything he told me how sorry he was. I knew he didn’t
want to disappoint me and I knew he thought he had. I just
hugged him and told him he didn’t have to be sorry. I
wish now that I would have taken that bottle away. Peter was
intoxicated the night he died. He just wanted to take a
“drive” with his friends. Because of alcohol peter
could not function normally to drive and was driving to
fast. Because of alcohol he was unable to see the turn ahead
of him, and he missed it. Because of alcohol he went
straight into the embankment. Because of alcohol peter lost
his life. Alcohol is deadly and because of its negative
effects I lost my best friend.
_________________________________
Anonymous
16
_____________________________________________________
Of course the first few times were
stupidly fun, but none of it was worth it to me. Right as
I’m writing this I can think of a few friends that are
wasting away their lives on alcohol. I’ve been there
and done that, and I know how harmful it can really be. I
know I have the genes for alcoholism on both sides of my
family. That’s why I try to stay away from it as much
as I can.
It has always been a part of my life
as long as I can remember. My mother has way more of an
alcohol problem than my dad. I think the first thing that I
can remember about alcohol affecting my life badly is when I
was really little and sick. I remember feeling really sick
to my stomach and just wanting my mom. I couldn’t find
her in the house so I went out to the garage and of course
she was out there drinking. At first I was mad at her for
being drunk, but then I remembered that I was sick. I tried
telling her to come inside because I felt like I was going
to throw up. I think she just kept telling me to hold on.
Finally I had to go to the bathroom, I tried yelling for her
one last time but it didn’t quite sound right because I
threw up all over the floor.
It’s not like my mom is abusive
or anything, but my sisters and I have got in a lot of
fights with her over alcohol. I have seen a lot of people
get very violent when they drink. Actually it was just
recently that my mom has got her drinking under control.
Before this though when I was in middle school I always
hated when my mom would drink while my friends were over.
Most of my friends just thought it was funny but to me she
just looked like an idiot. So I never really had any friends
over because I was so embarrassed of her, which doesn’t
really make you feel good about yourself.
When I think about my past situation I
realize that it’s not that bad. I bet so many people
out there have it worse than me and get abused and
neglected. I hate alcohol; it just doesn’t make any
sense to me why alcohol is even legal. People who drink for
fun or are severe alcoholics don’t realize how they are
hurting the people they love.
_________________________________
Anonymous
17
_____________________________________________________
Of all social pressures that plague
our youth today, Alcohol is the hardest one to avoid. I know
all to well. Growing up the way me and my peers did, we had
more access to glimpses of the adult world then any
generations before us. We can turn on any TV station, go
on-line, and watch people get hammered. Alcohol has been
used in pop culture more then any other illicit pleasure.
From the National Lampoon wild, crazy frat boy movies, Homer
Simpson and his love of Duff Beer, and even a TV show about
a bar where everyone knew your name, Alcohol has been a
substantial part of pop culture for years. So naturally, I
decided when I was young to imitate my heroes. Like a young
boy throwing a towel around his neck to be superman, I
decided to take Jaeger shots. The first encounter with
alcohol I had was at a hotel. Me and my friends had rented a
room to party. We had our good supply of assorted Beer and
Spirits, and some marijuana. We were set to roll. I don't
remember too much of that night. I remember one of our
friends had the genius idea to blow fireballs with the booze
in his mouth, and set the fire alarm off. I stumbled down to
the beach with my friend and lit up a cigarette. I ended
waking up in an empty hot tub, my face sprinkled with crumbs
of Chili Cheese Corn Chips.
After that party, I had to walk home.
The cold morning air set the mood for some reflective
thinking, in which I started thinking about the night
before. Granted, though it was fun at the time, I couldn't
help but feel bad. I walked by people in the street, and
they would wave, people I knew, and they never knew I was
hungover. Then I got a feeling like I was scum. I had to get
my kicks using cheap substances, load myself with illicit
toxins, forget about life. Real life. I felt like I missed
the point of what life was about, and how I destroyed my
sense of ever having natural pleasure again. It's a weird
feeling. I was a criminal. What I did was a somewhat severe
crime. It doesn't seem like much, but I ended up having
these weird paranoid thoughts. I had visions of Police
Officers busting into the hotel room and beating me with
nightsticks. And then I came to reality. I think the worst
part of the entire morning after was going home, and not
being able to tell anyone what I did. I had this real low
criminal feeling, and everyone was so oblivious. Granted,
that wouldn't be the last time I drank, but I soon realized
as my senior year approached, that binge drinking and
getting high was only a cheap form of escape. Anybody can
pump their self full of intoxicants. It takes a real person
to find joy in natural things.
__________________________________
Anonymous
18
______________________________________________________
Alcohol and my life, I guess you could
say they kind of go together. My life has been affected by
alcohol in more than one way. It’s sad
really.
Lets start with my parents. My father,
a 48 year old man; no job, life, or friends. This is all due
to his severe addiction to alcohol. My mom and him divorced
when my twin brother and I were 5.
Not just because of his addiction,
sadly my mom has the same problem. My mother, a 44 year old
bartender, got stuck with the genetics of her alcoholic
parents, also known as the “alcohol gene”. I am
happy though that her problem is not severe, and is easily
fixed because she has two active teens that keep her
busy.
So now after seeing alcohol at
it’s worst, affecting the people that I love,
you’d think I would stay away from the terrible drug.
Wrong. Well sort of.
A night that I would like to call the
worst night of my life was all due to alcohol and it’s
bad affects. December 2nd , 2006, I’ll never forget it.
That was the first time I had ever drank. Also the first
time I felt what alcoholism could do to someone, and also
the very last time I will ever touch it. The night started
out with two of my good friends and I driving around doing
absolutely nothing. We ended up at the beach and saw a
friend we don’t usually consult with. She told us about
how she was going to be babysitting and wanted us to hang
out, she said “it would be fun.”
About an hour later we were at a
vacant house with a 4 year old child, a few good friends,
and unlimited alcohol. My friend Angela and I thought, well
we have never done it before and one time won’t hurt
anything. Sadly, we were wrong. We ended up drinking an
excess amount and passing out. While we were still passed
out, the ambulance, cops, and our parents showed up.
Luckily, it was not bad enough for an emergency trip to the
hospital.
The next morning was a nightmare. I
woke up in my living room, sick as a dog. I immediately ran
to my room and called a friend that did not drink, but was
present. While I cried my eyes out, she told me the whole
story. I never knew that alcohol has that large of an affect
over your body. Two friends and I received MIP’s. That
consisted of court dates, alcohol classes, and fines. All
that and the knowledge that I hurt my friends, family, and
my body. I realized that I would never do that
again.
To this day, February 22nd 2008, I
have not touched as much as a drop of alcohol.
When I said it was my first and last
time drinking, I stuck to it. I still live in a small town
where drinking is what teens do. I have proudly chosen to
remain sober, even when my friends do not, that also
resulting into my new nick name “#1 DD(designated
driver).”
_________________________________
Anonymous
19
____________________________________________________
I spent most of my teenage years
coming home from practice or school and going straight to my
room because I knew as soon as my dad would come home the
yelling would start. The yelling wasn't because he is an
angry man; well he wasn't angry when he was sober. The
yelling started because my mom was so upset about the fact
that she would work all day and then come home and clean the
house just to have wait for my dad to come home drunk and
start an argument.
The arguments and the fighting pretty
much became a routine in my house. My dad would come home
drunk and that would make my mom mad so the fighting would
start. I swear I must have heard about 5,000 divorce threats
from 6th grade to 10th grade. After awhile I just seemed to
ignore the fact that they were fighting.
After awhile it became so bad that I
wouldn't even want to invite friends over because I didn't
want them to see my parents fight because it would be so
embarrassing for me.
I am very sad to admit this but
probably the best day of my life was when my dad almost
died. He was out in our shed when he lost his balance and
fell of a very sharp object that made him lose so much blood
his heart ended up stopping but luckily the doctors were
able to have him. I'm very sad to say that but even since
that night my dad has never had a drink since then and our
family life has been so much better.
So I hope this will help open some
parents eyes to how bad drinking really is. I can honestly
say that looking back on it my dad now regrets every drink
he took because he now knows how much it tore our family
apart. But not only that, he now feels so much healthier and
happy.
__________________________________
Anonymous
20
______________________________________________________
Four years. It may not seem like a
long time to those of you who have lived a decent amount of
years, but to a boy, no more than either when it started,
those four years were an eternity. An eternity of suffering
cause by a man transformed by alcoholism. The boy was told
to hid the cause of his bruises, and he did. Going to
school, acting like a normal child he continued living,
tormented by abuse at home. The man who caused this was an
alcoholic, a normal man who had one too many drinks far too
often and became a monster. A mere shell of his former self,
this man continued to hurt his family. Beating his wife and
child in a drunken rage night after night until they finally
had enough and left him. And while they finally separated
their torment, the psychological damage that had been done
to them could never be healed.
Situations like this happen all across
the United States. People's lives have been and continue to
be ruined by this drink, their judgment impaired, they
poison their bodies and lose control of their actions. Good
people have been turned into monsters by this seemingly
harmless drink and they sometimes wind up damaging their
lives, the people they care about, and in the end,
themselves. In 2001, there were 75,766 deaths attributed to
alcohol. 7,766 people whose lives were cut short resulting
from the consumption of this drink. Alcohol affects us all.
I'm not trying to tell you to abstain from drinking totally.
I'm just trying to warn you of what could happen if your not
careful. So next time you go down to the local bar for a
drink with your buddies or go to a wild part with friends,
be careful, for it may be your start down the long road to
despair; one which you might not be able to get away from
once started down.
__________________________________
Anonymous
21
______________________________________________________
David was on his bed crying. He had a
bloody nose and bruises that looked like plums all over his
body. David's father had gotten drunk and had beaten him.
The sad thing was, it was all about him forgetting to do the
trash. Both of them had been going through a rough time
because David's mom had died recently . It had a huge effect
on his father, and he started drinking then abusing his own
son.
Teachers at school were getting
concerned about the bruises and lack of sleep David had been
getting the last two months. They asked David if everything
was all right, but David would only say that he played
sports and that was where the bruises came from. When they
asked about the lack of sleep, he would change the subject
to something else until the teachers got tired of asking him
the same question. All of David's friends ware concerned
about this, too. But they knew better than to ask him about
the situation.
David was in his room doing his
homework when his dad was screaming his name. David got
tense and walked slowly down the stairs, scared. When he got
down there, he found his dad fuming about the trash not
taken out.
"I will take it out Dad," pleaded
David, now getting scared for what was coming. He took out
the trash, but when he came back in, his father wailed on
him and called him names. After David's father quit hitting
him, David put in a trash bag in the bin and went to his
room. He was scared of the pain of getting hit, but the
worst pain was that he thought his father didn't love him
any more. That pain got to be unbearable.
The next day, the police were at
David's school and waiting with the principal. They took
David in Mr. Lusk's office to talk. David was getting
uncomfortable because all of his friends had nice parents
that care about them, but he only had a father who treated
him like shit. It embarrassed him and made him feel
lonely.
"I have brought the police here
because I and my staff have noticed the lack of sleep and
the bruises on your arms, legs and torso. We need to know
what is happening so we can help you," said Mr. Luck,
concerned.
It took David a while to say, but he
told the police about his other's death and how it really
affected his father. After his father got home from work, he
would get drunk and start to hit him. It could last all
night or just a few hits. David said that the only reason
that he did not get much sleep is that he was up at night,
worrying that his dad would come in his bedroom and kill him
when he was sleeping. The police took David out of school
and to the police station. They asked him where his dad
worked at and he said there was a construction site out by
the new restaurant. They arrested his father later that
day.
__________________________________
Matt
Miller
_____________________________________________________
It all started back when I _was four
years of age. My father was starting to come home drunk more
and more. He was very nice when he was sober, but when my
uncle and he were together drinking things got out of hand.
I can remember one night my sisters and I were in our room
playing when my dad came through the door and started to
beat us, because we were playing loudly with our toys. At
first the beatings only happened once in a while, but as
time went on, they started happening more often.
I remember one night, that my uncle
and dad were in the living room drinking and things started
getting crazy. I woke up from them being loud, and I walked
out of my room to see what all the noise was, and it was my
dad and my uncle having sex and they told me to come over
there. I was too young to know what they were going to do to
me, but when I got over there they started to take my
clothes off. I started to yell; all of a sudden my dad hit
me across the face and told me to be quiet. While my dad and
my uncle raped me I was crying because of the pain in my
face and what they were going to me because they were
drunk.
The alcohol kept the beating coming
until one day when I played with matches. When I got caught,
I blamed it on my sister Amanda, and my dad took her out of
the room. When he did that, he locked my sister and me in my
room and took her in the kitchen. When he got her to the
kitchen he turned the burner on and put both of her hands on
the burner until they were almost third degree burnt. At
that moment I had guilt for what I did and was so sorry.
That day we were taken away from our parents and put in
foster care for our first time.
So in my life I have had to deal with
the effects that have come out of being abused both
physically and sexually. Every day I have to look at myself
in the mirror and see someone who has been used and abused
for being born. I also have to live with what happened to my
sister because of me. Today I am in my fourth foster home,
because my sisters and I were abused by the family that
adopted us. We have been back in foster care for almost a
year again. Although life has been rough, we still manage to
keep each other strong and are able to more on with life and
everything that we are going through.
__________________________________
Anonymous
23
_______________________________________________________
My mother married an alcoholic when I
was two, and when I was five I received my first black eye.
My step dad stumbled into the house from the bar around ten
in the morning demanding I pour him a cup of coffee. He
terrified me, and I always obeyed. He told me not to forget
the sugar, and I started crying when I realized we had none
left. I was only five years old and I didn't know what to do
so I put salt in it instead. I very carefully set the cup of
coffee next to him and ran to my room. Seconds later he was
screaming for me to come to him. I was so scared, I hid
under my bed hoping he wouldn't find me. Unfortunately that
was my usual hiding spot and he found me right away. He
pulled me out from under my bed by my hair; I screamed from
the pain. He yelled at me to stop, but I kept trying to get
away. I was scared of him, but I always tried to fight back.
I kicked and screamed and threw my tiny fists at him, but
none of this made a difference. Once more he said "Stop or
else," and once again I kept fighting him. It was the
greatest pain I ever felt when he hit me with his giant
fist.
When my mother got home from work she
saw my eye and started crying hysterically asking how it
happened. At that very moment my step father walked into the
room with his sly smile and told her I fell. I screamed at
him and told my mother what really happened. Of course he
denied everything and even had the nerve to put his arm
around me as he said he would never dream of hurting his
little angel. Like the enabler she was, my mother believed
him. Deep down she knew he was lying, but she wanted so
badly for it to be untrue that she sacrificed her child's
safety for "the perfect family image." Later that week my
step dad bought me one of those electric jeeps for little
kids to drive. I didn't understand why he did that. I
thought maybe it was his way of apologizing, so I just
forgave and forgot.
On my mother's 32nd birthday we had a
huge party; all her friends and family were invited. Like
most celebrations, there was of course, plenty of alcohol.
My mother was quite the lightweight, and she was really
drunk by her fourth beer. After about seven beers and a
couple shots she passed out. She was put to bed very early
into the party by my aunt. The party was nowhere close to
over for my step dad; he decided it was over when he ran out
of alcohol to drink. When everyone left he tried looking for
his hidden stash of whiskey, the stash my mother secretly
poured down the sink. After searching and searching he knew
that there was no way he would find it. He was used to
blaming everything on me, so he automatically assumed it was
me. I ran to my mother and tried to wake her but she wasn't
waking up any time soon. My step father demanded that I told
him that I got rid of it and very roboticly I obeyed. That's
when he took off his thick leather belt and proceeded to
whip my entire body until I bled. I was seven years old. He
then told me that if I ever told anyone that he would kill
my mother. I never told my mother; I was afraid he would
seriously do it.
The physical abuse occured almost
daily; I would get slapped around if I did so little as
putting my elbows on the table. My mother just watched with
tears in her eyes. When I was eight, my little sister was
born, and that's when things sort of turned around. My step
dad quit drinking and everyone seemed happier. I was the
happiest. I loved my baby sister so much. I always wanted to
be with her and help my mom with her. My mother always
called me the "little mamma" and I was in a way; I watched
over her as if I were her mother. My step dad would get
really angry when she would cry late at night, so I would
rush to her room and hold her so she would stop crying I was
so afraid he might hurt her. When my little sister was six
months old my step dad lost his job driving trucks and went
back to drinking. Our family fell apart once again, and once
again I had to go to school and convince the school
counselor that my bruises were from playing rough with the
boys, a lie I hated telling.
When I was ten my step dad put me in
the hospital for burning his toast. That's when I had it,
and I ran away to my uncle's house. And shortly after that
we moved to Oregon. I lived here for about five years with
my aunt and uncle. I worked all the time and mailed my mom
all the money I earned. When I was fifteen my mom moved here
with my sister to get away from my step dad. Things were
great for a long time until my step dad found out where we
were living. He was so angry that my mother left him he
became a raging lunatic. He beat me so severely that I was
in the hospital for two weeks. My mother finally got enough
nerve to tell the police and he was put in jail. My mother
is now remarried to a wonderful man who would never hurt my
family.
__________________________________
Marc
Shepherd
______________________________________________________
“No person under the age of 21
shall consume any alcoholic beverage.” It’s the
law. Laws are put into place for a reason. This one
especially. The legal age is 21 because most people under
that age aren’t responsible enough to handle alcohol,
and they will abuse it. Your body isn’t completely
developed until you are 25 years old. Drinking alcohol a
significant amount of time before this age can cause
serious, long term problems.
Binge drinking is a serious problem in
our society today. Binge drinkers are almost always addicted
to alcohol and its effects. They stay drunk almost all of
the time, and this often puts many innocent bystanders in
risky situations.
As a teenager I feel constant peer
pressure. The pressure to drink alcohol is by far the most
frequent. I resist this pressure because although not all
people are affected in a long term way, the possibility is
always present. In fact, approximately 15% of drinkers will
have an alcohol dependency problem. Alcohol can waste or
even ruin many years of your life. Is that worth
it?
Kids are very intent on feeling a high
from alcohol, drugs, or other substances. Their high lasts a
couple of hours maybe. While they are drunk or high, they do
not realize that they could be taking years off their lives
just for feeling good for this short period of
time.
I don't think alcohol is bad or that
it should be made illegal. When responsible people drink
responsibly, it is rather safe. Drinking responsibly can
even account for a good time. Raising the legal drinking age
might be a better alternative.
Alcohol is a major downfall of youth.
They misuse and abuse it. Eight young people die each day in
alcohol related crashes. Alcohol is a factor in 40% of all
academic problems and is the cause of 28% of college
students dropping out. Alcohol is a factor in nearly 40% of
violent crimes. I know alcohol and binge drinking is not
worth it, but after reading these facts it seems as though
alcohol ruins peoples lives 50% of the time or more when it
is abused. Don’t abuse it.
__________________________________
Kelli
Moore
______________________________________________________
There once was a young girl named
Darla. She was smart, talented, and very beautiful. To Darla
the words family and alcoholism often ran in the same
sentence. Through her eyes… Alcoholism is a disease,
not a joke. Everyday started off the same for Darla. She
woke up on her own and got herself and her sister ready for
school. She did the cooking, cleaning, and even had to help
raise her sister. For most, being young is easy. To Darla,
it was a struggle and she was all alone.
Her mom was always drinking and she
even drank when she was pregnant with Darla’s sister,
Julie. Her sister also grew up with alcoholic parents, and
was not as strong as Darla. Julie was pregnant at the age of
12 and was heading down her parents path. Christmas time,
Birthdays, Weddings, and even Funerals were all the same.
Any excuse to drink and her family would. No family
gathering was ever happy. No family gathering was ever
normal.
When Darla took the SAT’s in
school she was too embarrassed to be picked up by her dad
because he was too drunk to drive. But that was better than
them forgetting about her, like they often did. This was
frequent for Darla, she felt as if her dad was permanently
drunk. Darla never had friends spend the night and never had
boyfriends over to pick her up. Then she met Ken and he
quickly became all she had. The first time Ken came to
Darla’s house her father answered the door with
spaghetti on his head. Her mom and dad had been cooking in
the kitchen and as always, they were drunk.
One day, Darla’s dad pushed her
mom and she fell and broke her arm. That was the day Darla
knew she would never have a sip of alcohol as long as she
lived. Darla decided that the decades of alcoholism in her
family would end there. But the battle for her was not over.
Soon after that, Darla’s mom died after a long fight
with alcoholism at only 45 years old.
Darla then lost her big sister, and
father. She loved her family and was heart broken when they
were gone. Her father was successful, her mom seemed happy,
and from the outside they appeared normal. But what
couldn’t be seen was that they were sick with a disease
that had far reaching consequences. It was hard for Darla.
She felt as if alcoholism had stolen from her... It had
taken her family and her happiness to.
Thirty years later Darla is still
smart, just as talented, and even more beautiful. She has a
loving happy family and she is thankful for what God has
given her. I would know… because she is my mom. I know
that her parents alcoholism took a lot out of my mom at that
time and hurt her so much but it made her who she is
today…The perfect mom.
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