Wasted People... Wasted Lives
...es who laid awake at night wondering when one of them was going to be killed by the other… the ones who day after day questioned whether they wanted to just run away… the ones who were most effected by all of these happenings… and who would remember them for the rest of their lives. I grew up despising my parents for all that they had done to our family. Because of their dependency on alcohol, they barely ever had enough money to provide for their children, my two younger brothers and me. Before we knew what was happening, we had sold everything worth value to us and had to move from motel to motel, each one getting sleazier than the last. The thing that is really unbelievable is that this turning point in all of our lives did not stop my parents from drinking. They continued drinking, and we, my brothers and I, continued hating them. It was not until I moved away from them, and my mother died that I realized that I did not hate them… I loved them with all of my heart… But I loathed alcohol. It had turned everything in my life into a complete wreck, and everyone I knew that was affected by it’s opium-like influence was turning into everything my parents were. This was the lesson I learned from all of those years of torture and misery. Although I learned it the hard way, I believe that because I learned this, I am a better person, and I will be a better mother for it also. I just wish it were that way for all children growing up with abusive parents. Many children never get a chance to see that there is a life better to the one that includes drunken fights and salted wounds, but instead, they grow up to believe that this is how it is meant to be, with two parents hitting each other while their children watch and weep. This is simply not true. Life, as a child, should include laughter, not tears… love, not hate… hugs, not bruises… and faith, not fear. Recently, I have come to find out that my father is dying from a disintegrating liver, because of his drinking, and yet he will not stop, even though I plead insanely. This made me very angry indeed, for it showed me how naïve a stubborn alcohol-dependant people can be. These days, he drinks two 12-packs daily, just to get a buzz. Alcohol is like a crime, or a drug in that, you only do a little bit at first, but soon you need to do more and more just to get the edge you used to. I believe the companies who make it know this, and that is how they receive lifelong customers… however long that life would be. By drinking more and more, you ruin your body, you deprive it of its nutrients, and you basically take joy out of your life, completely. Alcohol is a depressant, which means it slows down your heart rate and makes your body release chemicals that make you fee...