adult child of alcoholics
Alcohol
"I would cover her with a blanket and kiss her forehead, because I saw that on TV before. That’s how moms tuck in their kids. But my mom told me TV was fake anyway, and she was right."
neglect
Deprivation
"I grabbed the small Little Tykes kid’s stool and it made me just tall enough to hoist myself up onto the counter to access the cabinet that held the peanut butter. I would put the stool back and run into the living room with the tub of creamy Jif."
physical abuse
The Darkest Side of the Moon
"I closed my eyes and went somewhere else for a moment, because here my father was, about to literally chop off my hands for taking a dollar from my younger brother. As if they raised us to be decent people. As if they raised us at all."
adult child of alcoholics
The End of Summer and the Beginning of Football Season
"And always, there were at least a couple of people crashing on the couch, in our beds (we would sleep on the floor), or wherever. We would always drive certain people home. All throughout the night people would leave, or get up and party more. I never got good sleep on picnic nights."
adult child of alcoholics
What's a Good Parent?
"He was into carpentry in his spare time, and always had a project. I never knew why he didn’t go into it as a career. I used to help him by handing him nails and screws and different tools. I was like his scrub nurse, but our patients were plywood and our instruments were screwdrivers and drills."