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Dear Old Dad

After getting sober, he showed his father the same compassion he would any suffering alcoholic

After 14 years of sobriety, I think of my dad often. My thoughts, when I think of him, are now full of love and compassion. This was not always the case.

Dad was an active alcoholic until the day he died. He was a violent and cruel alcoholic and my memories of growing up with him are dark.

His violent outbursts were filled with beating my mother, physical fights with my oldest brother, tearing phones from their sockets, punching holes in walls, tossing furniture down steps and threating to kill us all as we slept. I grew up hating him and at the same time desperately wanting... Login to read more
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