How Alcoholism Affected One Man’s Life

Once again I’m pleased to share with you the writing of one of my readers. Bill sent this along to me using my Sober doesn’t Suck! submissions page. Thank you so much to Bill for sharing!

I urge you all to share your story, but only if it’s yours….to help someone else. Please only tell your story, your feelings about your own addiction or that of someone else in your life. Addiction affects the people around us, I’m interested in sharing all sides.

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When I was 13 my parents divorced, and my mother hooked up with a handsome everyday drunk.

It wasn’t long before he beat her and brought his drunk brothers around.

He wall slammed me and fought cops, bikers…..everyone.

At 16 I laid a beating on him, my mom was mad.

I moved out at 18 (1968) and was an acid head.

My girlfriend got pregnant and we settled down.

At 23 we bought a house.

I don’t do illegal drugs and I do have 1 drink, never to get drunk.

I have 2 kids, three grandkids, and am retired now.

My friends and brother, not so lucky.

Many a Christmas to remember

With no Christmas carols the bag pipes would do

They summoned the bootlegger and a drunkard or two

The brains were all pickled the abuse was all flowing

Booze lines on their noses were red and all glowing

And all of a sudden, his brain being small

Started the tree moving quickly down the hall

The bulbs were all breaking, the tinsel and lights

Out the door with extension cord into the night

Tattered limbs, broken Santa and all of the fun

Thrown out in the backyard, lucky I don’t have a gun

It was sad, it was Christmas, all this I knew

I swore when I got older it would happen to you

And as he stood there, a drunk with no shame

I rattled off a few unspeakable names

I slept in a dumpster that Christmassy night

Cheers to all. What a hell of a night

At my mothers funeral and old friend of the family came up and spoke to me.

“Bill, I thought you were going to be a gangster!”

My wife and I had a bit of a rough time growing up, and we learned to survive.

I think without her and her without me, maybe a different path.

We had a house fire one year in and lost everything,

We started over, saved up, moved on.

Thank you Julie———Bill