Falling Through the Cracks Already...

My sister used to throw huge birthday parties for her kids. Her son - my nephew - had especially big parties and through those and also various soccer games, school events etc. that I attended as a "good aunt", I met many of his friends from elementary school and middle school. During his high school years I would continue to see my nephew with a few of those boys but some had just dropped off the radar. So occasionally, I would ask, "Hey, whatever happened to so and so?" Inevitably the answer would be, "Oh he got involved in drugs and is now in rehab." Or "Oh he got in with the wrong crowd and drugs and alcohol and is now in jail." That sort of stuff - fully 2/3rds of the boys my nephew regularly hung out with in elementary school and middle school all seemed to take the wrong road and it all seemed to be related to drug or alcohol abuse. Now, one could just say that my nephew had particularly bad taste in friends early on and as he is an enormously kind and empathetic person, I definitely think that he would take some "unfortunate souls" under his friendly wing and it would not always work out. But still….

Fast forward to my oldest son who is finishing middle school (8th grade - age 14 years) next week. My son also used to have big birthday parties and we have always had boys around and about our home. And over the years some have dropped off the radar. In many cases it is just because they developed different interests and friendships but for a few of them the story has been, "Oh he was sent to the alternative school for dealing drugs" or "Oh he was sent to the alternative school because he was caught smoking dope in the bathroom." That sort of thing. The same sort of thing that happened to my nephew's former pals.

Have I mentioned that these are middle-schoolers? They are 14 years old or less and they are already taking drugs. They are from "good families" and they are already abusing substances. The friends of my son's who have "gone this way", I can say as someone who observed them closely that it was usually pretty obvious that something was awry early on. I have not really been surprised. Either these were the out-of-control boys who were severely ADHD and drugged out of their minds by their parents and pediatricians or they had parents that I just flat out thought were "crazy" and thus it seems to run in the family.

But my oldest has also reached the age and stage where the cliques and groups are forming. And the careless and heartless generalizations about folks. I get a lot of "He hangs out now with the kids who are losers." And I consider my son a pretty empathetic and "good kid" but he is already labeling. And if HE is labeling, then parents are labeling and teachers are labeling. It boggles my mind that a child of 14 has already been classified as a "loser." What in the world chance do they have? Don't get me wrong - I am glad that my son has learned "discernment" and who to avoid and who will be a bad influence; this is not about my son. It is about those kids who are obviously falling through the cracks and are to be avoided.

I think collectively that we all need to be on the look out for this. There are way too many "losers" falling through the cracks at too early an age. Already so much potential lost. Already so many substances being abused. My youngest son is a loner and exhibits a lot of traits that clear hindsight tells me that my husband probably exhibited as a child. But my youngest is in therapy. He is a good and talented child but still, I WATCH and LISTEN. How many are not watching and listening? I don't want my child to be a "loser." And I certainly don't want him to hang with the wrong crowd and get involved with substance abuse. I am honest with him; he knows that alcoholism is a genetically-caused pre-disposition and that he needs to make wise choices. With this child I try my best to make sure he makes those wise choices. Same with my oldest son.

If someone in your family is an alcoholic or drug abuser - especially if it is a direct-line father or mother or grandfather or grandmother, be honest with your children. They need to know what is going on and that just like their red hair or their green eyes, a pre-disposition towards substance abuse can be inherited. It is a disease that they must be vigilant against. Because they needn't fall through the cracks if someone is really paying attention...

Throw Back Thursday

Yep! This was my guy...the man I fell in love with! To be quite honest, I fell in love with the CAR first! Ah, memories!

Facebook has this meme now: Throw Back Thursday. It is kind of fun - folks post their photos - often prom pics with puffy sleeves and big hair..that sort of thing. I took the opportunity to reflect on how I fell in love with Hubby. Let's face it - the "rebel" in Hubby appealed to me. I was always so happy and cheerful and I was quite the goody two-shoes: all A's (summa cum laude et al), always with a great attitude and doing what I was told. Hubby was brilliant and he was also busy rebelling against the life his parents wanted for him: taking over the family medical practice, marrying the "right" socialite, buying a house right next door to the family mansion.... He wanted to marry little old me and be a research scientist instead. It was all terribly romantic.

And as I have said before, for 18 of our 25 years of marriage it was fine. Problems with Hubby's family ironed out and I adored my in-laws. Hubby forged his own successful career; we had our two sons. However, there was always this one thing....the "rebel" never changed his fundamental discontent. He was always convinced his parents didn't love him; he was always convinced that folks were "out to get him"; he was always longing for more, more, more (more cars, more tools, more salary); he was always "getting in trouble" at work..you know, because of that "rebel spirit" that got everyone's back up.

That was always the way that my Hubby was. It never occurred to me that he was mentally ill. Sure - I thought it was odd that he didn't seem to "snap out it" or "grow up" but heck, I know a lot of guys who are just like they were in college... I just never knew that what was on the surface was hiding problems that were so deep.

The point of this entry, I guess, is to say to educate oneself and trust your gut. I remember one time eating out with Hubby and realizing that we were having the same conversation that we had had since we first went out for dinner - how his parents didn't love him; how worthless everyone was; how much better things should be...all negativity and gloom and doom - and thinking, "Huh...it sure is kind of strange that all he does is talk about this. I wonder if it means something?" But then putting it aside and having that gut instinct get subsumed in the busy-ness of life, career, and kids.

If you think something may be wrong, it probably is. That's all for today - kind of disjointed - hope it helps.

Throw Back Thursday....yeah....

Another Storm He Will Miss

Hubby used to love big storms. He was a science teacher so they fascinated him on a scientific level but also on a visceral level as well. We have had some quite horrific storms in my part of the country lately; the latest killed several folks in Arkansas in fact.

A few weeks ago, we had a bad storm in our home town with two tornados and baseball sized hail. The sirens sounded for about 45 minutes. It caused a lot of damage in our town; I was fortunate - I live on the side of town that just got heavy rains, thunder and lightening and some pebble-sized hail.

I enjoy storms as well. I opened the screen door and went out on the balcony and watched. But such events make me sad now because of the memory of how much Hubby would have loved this. My first thought is always, "Oh, poor ---, he would have loved this so and he is missing it all."

We have a flat roof on our house and I remember that Hubby would go up there in bad storms and clear off the roof and make sure the drains were not clogged. There was something about being up there in the pouring rain and strong wind that made him so happy - he would come back inside with a big grin on his face asking for a dry towel...

Oh you are missing this wonderful storm! Oh, you are missing your oldest son being inducted into National Junior Honor Society and National Junior Thespians this week. Oh, you missed your youngest son getting his black belt. Oh, you missed him singing a beautiful solo at the jazz festival this weekend.

Oh...how...sad....

I heard a fly buzz when I died;
The stillness round my form
Was like the stillness in the air
Between the heaves of storm. --- Emily Dickinson

Concerning "Who Will Win?"

I have followed the postings of The Immortal Alcoholic for many years. I actually came upon her blog after googling "immortal alcoholic" in frustration one day with Hubby. Hubby had had so many accidents by that time! He had fallen and hit his head many, many times - ending up in the hospital. He had an accident on his motorcycle (while drunk) where he was hit by a semi and then thrown under another semi, dragged 800 ft and slammed into a guard rail wall and walked away with 4 cracked ribs - that's all. The doctors and nurses were amazed and said that my husband was truly "immortal".

And I remember thinking, "Yeah, great. Lucky me...har,har..." So I googled "immortal alcoholic" and found that great blog which helped me so much! It is terrible feeling that way. You start thinking "Will this nightmare ever end?" and then you feel so horribly guilty because it is such a sin to wish for someone else's obliteration. But there it is. I must say that I do understand why some people murder. Because it is so very awful to live with an alcoholic.

At least towards the end my thoughts were tempered with knowing that Hubby was miserable and actually wanted to die. But, believe me, it took some therapy sessions to convince myself that I was not some sort of evil person for thinking these thoughts.

Linda, of The Immortal Alcoholic, in her March 25, 2014 post "Who will win?" expressed such dark thoughts so well. She writes, "The only way I can make sense of all this is to make sure that I stay healthy and outlive Riley....I actually WANT my life and have many things planned for my Riley-free days." She then goes on later to say that "if you die before the alcoholic, alcoholism wins."

That is SO much how I felt! I was so afraid that my two sons would have a long miserable childhood because of Hubby. And I was so afraid that my dear mother who worries so much about me and is in her 80's would die before she knew that I was free, and safe, and happy. And no matter how awful it sounds, I am so grateful that this was not the fate of me, my mother or my sons. And yes, Hubby had to die before we could know such freedom and happiness again.

So there it is. Folks like Linda and I need to keep expressing such feelings openly. Because all family members who - through a variety of circumstances - are forced to be in an alcoholic home have these dark thoughts. It is OK to have these dark thoughts. The alcoholic in your life has often had such dark thoughts about YOU...because YOU, of course, are the real "bad guy", right? So have 'em. Don't feel guilty about 'em. Make your "life without my alcoholic" bucket list. And don't let alcoholism win.

About Love....

I am so sorry that I have not posted in months and months! Life really does go on doesn't it? Especially with two sons and all their activities. I have a full life: full-time job, part-time karate instructor, mom...and before you know it, the blog has taken a back seat. Lots of catching up to do. So many things to post about.. dealing with December holidays is one. But today I am going to take a page out of The Immortal Alcoholic's book and "celebrate" Valentine's month with a post.

I just finished writing an article on being the wife of an alcoholic and submitted it unsolicited (fingers crossed that it will be accepted!) to a humor website of all things! In the opening paragraph I talk about my marriage experience as being like putting money in a vending machine and hitting the Snickers button and having a Twix bar come out instead (I don't like Twix bars!). Because when you marry someone you never know what you are going to get! Especially since as the years go by (25 of them in my case) folks change. Sometimes they just morph into a different person, sometimes they leave you for another, sometimes an illness like cancer takes away the one you love and sometimes an illness like alcoholism does. Either way you watch the person you had slip away.

My Valentine's post is about love and is specifically geared towards a conversation with the "co-dependent" crowd. You can look up this term in Wikipedia if you don't really know what it means. During the span of hubby's alcoholism I was constantly afraid that I was going to become a co-dependent. I kept a mental list of "signs that you are co-dependent" and became anxious if I started to exhibit any of those unwholesome characteristics. Of course - silly - the mere fact that I was being this vigilant probably means I wasn't co-dependent but it sure did worry me a lot!

When you are the spouse of an alcoholic who chooses to stay with that alcoholic for whatever reason (I have outlined some of the reasons already in this blog) there are probably gossips here and there who bandy about the co-dependent label for you. Ah well...it is what it is.

One of the things I have not talked about (and which causes me to say a big "suck it" to the "label me as co-dependent" crowd) is hanging in there with your alcoholic until the bitter end because of LOVE (seems appropriate for Valentine's Day!). This is probably a wildly inappropriate thought for the majority of spouses suffering through an alcoholic marriage but it DOES apply to me and my sons.

I loved my husband with a passion. I took traditional marriage vows that promised to stay in sickness and in health and as I truly do believe that alcoholism is a sickness well there you are. In the beginning I stayed in because of the whole "sickness and health" thing but..yeah...it really wore thin in a brutal way which is why divorce is often necessary. I have gone into the legal and practical reasons as to why I did not leave and divorce Hubby. But I have not really gone into the LOVE reasons.

My sons and I had a conference in the oldest one's bedroom one night about what to do with Hubby and Dad. The three of us made a pact to stay in for the long haul with him. Because the alternative was probably to have him die alone in the house and be a mess and be one of those awful stories where he is not found for days etc. And really no one wants to treat someone that they used to love that way. Especially when that person used to love you as well and probably still does somewhere in the deep dark recesses of whatever mind is left. At least the three of us decided that we did not want to treat Hubby and Dad that way.

There were also very brief moments now and then when a flash of the old Hubby and Dad and how he used to be would come through and we would remember how great he was. And there were even more horrible flashes for me when Hubby would suddenly look at me long and hard and deeply and I could see in his eyes the incredible pain and suffering he felt and knew how badly he wanted to die. So many times those eyes would beg me to release him from the hell in some way.

No two alcoholics are alike. Mine was fairly OK as far as that goes; so many more are such dreadful assholes all the time (mine was only an asshole most of the time!). Family has to make decisions based on each unique situation. Sometimes decisions are made because of unhealthy co-dependent reasons. There were many reasons I made mine and one of those was LOVE.

BTW, just because I felt love does not mean I didn't feel hate. But that is for another post.... Happy Late Valentine's Day....survive!

Hubby would be 50 now....

July 22 would have been Hubby's 50th birthday. Even when he was on his last legs, I DID think that he would make it to the 50th birthday mark. Hubby seemed like the lead character in the movie, "Unbreakable" - he sustained horrific accidents and injuries but would somehow pick himself up and brush himself off and keep on going to teach classes. I cannot imagine what his students must have thought about the emaciated hollow soul who still seemed to know EVERYTHING about Biology, Chemistry, and Physics despite all the rest of his brain being gone!

If Hubby had lived, the "birthday celebration" would have been a disaster - an uncomfortable event that would have ultimately ended with him cussing everyone out and going to lie down all day in his dark bedroom. So...I am not going to dwell on that; what I am going to do is imagine what a 50th birthday celebration would have been for Hubby had he not been an alcoholic.

Hubby's 50th Birthday Party:

The invitations would be sent to Hubby's remaining college pals and high school friends. Since he loved grilled foods we would have had lots of steaks and brats. With sautéed onions and mushrooms as well. Corn on the cob. Lots of great British beer. He would have given everyone rides in his vintage British sports car and/or American muscle car. Then we would have all gone swimming. The boys would be playing with all the kids of the other guests and the dog would be having the time of her life. House would look great from all the fixing up that Hubby and I would have done in DIY partnership throughout the years and the bills would all be paid...

Finally a cake and we all sing Happy Birthday. My mother and my sister and her husband and my niece and nephew looking fondly on because they loved Uncle Hubby...he was always the most fun at holidays and other events...

But of course none of this was true. Hubby didn't get to have that birthday, his remaining college and high school friends came to scatter his ashes two months ago, he couldn't stop at one beer, he grew to hate crowds and swimming and actually anything fun, the boys were miserable, the dog skulked away from him in disgust, the house still looks like crap though tens of thousands of dollars later I am improving on this, still drowning in debt from medical bills and above-mentioned house clean-up, my mother and my sister and her husband and my niece and nephew hated Hubby and avoided him like the plague because he ruined holidays and other events..

And so it goes with the alcoholic and addict. Hubby could have been having the time of his life on July 22, 2013. Ah well... I DID wish him a quiet Happy Birthday - because he is at peace and I guess that is all I get to give him this year.

(Re)Learning How to Have Fun

Sorry for the surfeit of posts; this summer has proven to be quite busy and I don't have as much time to reflect and relax as I would wish. Which brings me to my topic today. Living with an alcoholic is a real drag. They are NOT fun folks at all; after all, if they were happy and having fun and enjoying life, they would be alcoholics/addicts, right?

I will say that Hubby and I did not have a very "fun" married life ever. We had it pretty hard primarily due to financial and health woes. No honeymoon, no get-aways to Cancun while doting grandparents cared for the kids, barely even nights out to eat. Right after our marriage we went straight to graduate school which is guaranteed to make you poor (but we were happy there - go figure!) and then I got my first round of cancer and then we had a preemie child and then Hubby had to have congenital heart issues fixed...we spent much of our 25 years actually grinding away just to pay medical bills. Even with insurance, I did an audit of our marriage expenses one time and discovered that we paid over $100,000 worth of medical bills in our 25 year marriage. So...Hubby and I didn't ever really learn to "have fun". We were too busy surviving. By the way - our response to this difficult life was completely different. I am the "if it doesn't kill you then it makes you stronger" type of person and Hubby was the "every bad happens to me/us and we can never win and everything sucks" type of person. Which was a big contributing factor to his alcoholism, I believe.

One of the reasons I have not written is because my sons and I went to Disney World and Florida for two weeks! Quite the experience for us! During the first two days the three of us competed in an international karate tournament (and won some awards!)

After that was done, we woke up the next morning completely unable to determine what to do! Here we were at Disney World - the most fun place in the universe supposedly! And we had 4 days worth of tickets to all the parks! And yet - the three of us were at a total loss where to start! The boys wanted to sleep in more so I told them, "You stay here. I will go get breakfast and sit here with these brochures and figure out how to have fun!" When I came back from breakfast, I had a "fun plan" at least and as we started going to parks and seeing things and riding rides...it gradually dawned on us that we were having fun! Really - honestly - for the first time in our lives!

We spent the entire time slightly bemused. The idea of having not a care in the world and just enjoying pleasurable things was amazing but a bit discomfiting as well. When we returned, we all agreed that THIS was what a VACATION was supposed to be!

When life with your alcoholic becomes an utter and complete drag, don't forget to have fun. You may have to go to Disney World; if so - then GO! I did not realize this and the boys and I have spent too many years not having any fun. We have got a lot of catching up to do! And it is going to be...FUN!