Recovering My Sanity After Alcoholism And Domestic Abuse
Disastrous First Marriage
My father was an alcoholic. He was never violent, and most of his drinking was done at a small bar. I knew we didn’t have a lot of money, but I did not realize my father had a drinking problem until I was about 16 years old. He did get sober when I was 18 and stayed sober until his death. I loved him, and he loved me.
I Married An Alcoholic — What A Surprise!
I married an alcoholic at 18 years old. I believe he was a binge drinker over several years of our marriage. During the months when he wasn’t drinking our life was good. He was a good husband, good provider and good father to our three sons. Everything changed when he drank more.
Eventually, he started drinking much more often, and he became abusive. The abuse started out as verbal, but developed into physical abuse. At that time I was trying to finish getting my nursing degree.
Hope For His Recovery
Finally, he started going to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) after a brief time in a rehab facility, but he still didn’t stay sober for long.
I hid our problems from everyone I could. I didn’t even tell my family, although the close neighbors had to know. A man from AA…