My Story, Part 2

My Story, Part 1, 2, 3

After this first buzz I would sometimes find wherever my Mother's Dad was hiding his liquor and me and my brother would drink it. Sometimes I would also drink the beer that was in the tool shed refrigerator. But I would just only drink til I got a buzz, never enough to get drunk.

My Mother got cancer when I was a freshman in high school. She had surgery then got chemo and radiation. She never was exactly well after that. She had a remission period but was always sickly after that. I had to cook and clean after that and it didn't give me time for many extracurricular activities at school.

The last Christmas she was alive I was 17 and we went to my grandmother's house for Christmas eve. My uncle poured me a drink and I drank it and a whole lot more. I got really sick from the booze and stayed up all night. My Mother had been sleeping on the couch for days. She would sleep sitting up because she had lung cancer and couldn't lay down and not cough. We sat together and watched "The Trouble with Angels" a movie on TV. We talked and my mom was honest with me that she would die soon and I had to go on to college and have a good life.

She died in the middle of January (the 17th). I had to pick out the coffin, arrange for the service and pick out clothes for my Mother to wear. I had to go shopping for my brother so he would have something to wear to the service. My aunts helped me. My Dad couldn't be bothered.

After my Mother died my Father started coming to my door and scratching on it to try and get me to open up. It scared me. So I moved in with one of my cousins to get me through high school. I graduated with a 3.9 GPA.

That summer I spent with my Aunt in Florida. They owned a fishing camp with a boat, cabins, and some convention store.

My uncle taught me to drink beer. I got drunk a couple of times.

When fall came I went to my grandmother's and started college.

My Story, Part 1, 2, 3

My Story, Part 1

My Story, Part 1, 2, 3

I was born at Fort McPherson in Atlanta, Georgia. I grew up in a middle class family. My Dad was a postman and my Mother stayed at home. I had a brother Chuck, who was 2 years younger. We lived in the suburbs of Atlanta.

My Mother always told me I wasn't good enough. She was always comparing me to the other girls in the community. She called me "backward" a lot which I guess is true because I have always been an introvert.

My parents didn't drink and there was never any alcohol in the house.

As far as alcoholics in my extended family go I had one grandmother (Dad side) of the family and two grandfathers that drank to excess. My Father's brother was a big alcoholic as well as two uncles on my Mom's side as well as one of my Mother's sisters. I guess you can say I come by alcoholism naturally.

When I was 12 or 13 my grandparents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. My relatives were celebrating with pink champagne. I got a glass. that was leftover and this was my first drink. I drank maybe three leftover cups and I got my first buzz.

My Story, Part 1, 2, 3