A friend of mine grew up with five siblings and an alcoholic father. The effect of her father’s alcoholism was devastating on her family. Here’s how she tells the story:
By the time my father died, his alcoholism had destroyed our family. None of us kids could talk to each other any more. We’d drifted apart to different parts of the country and had nothing to do with each other. My mother was a saint and kept trying through the years to have us reconcile with each other, inviting us to gather for thanksgiving and Christmas and the like, but it never worked. All her efforts were for nothing. We hated each other.
