“I came from
this wonderful family of 7 kids – I was number 6. My
family was spiritual. They brought their problems to
God. My parents lived their religion; they didn’t preach
their religion…. My father taught catechism; I taught
catechism….”
“My acting out
was a result of my drinking. I was a follower and I
followed my friends who were drinking…. When I drank, …
the feeling of a follower fell away… I like became a
star. It helped me to fit in. Alcohol removed my
inhibitions… I could dance… talk to boys, do all of that
stuff. I don’t know what I had for social skills, but I
don’t think it was much…”
“My father
always told me I had the best, happiest childhood of the
7 kids…. That changed when I was 13 or 14. It could have
been adolescence or alcoholism kicking in…. I was
extremely self-conscious; I wasn’t pretty enough; I
wasn’t smart enough; I wasn’t this, I wasn’t that, I
wasn’t enough… when I drank, I felt like I was enough
and more, so I chased that…. Alcohol fixed it. It took
all the uncomfortability away, all the feeling that I
didn’t belong in my own skin.”