HOW I STAYED DETACHED FROM MY FAMILY’S ADDICTION

Posted by:

HOW I STAYED DETACHED FROM DAD’S ALCOHOLISM

 

What are the adventures we create to enter an alternate world of joy, love, and a healthy family when we are only children?

For me, it was making friends, real and imaginary.

  • Real friends
  • Food
  • Things to do at school
  • Clubs
  • Volunteering
  • My sister

My neighbor was my best friend. I hopped the fence to play at her house any time I could. She was real. Her parents knew about my dad, but never talked about it. They saw him passed out ...

Continue Reading →
15
MAR
0

Broken Bottles, THE STRUGGLE

, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hollow Eyes-How Does a Child See an Addicted Parent?

Posted by:

In a horror movie, no eyes generally means a serial killer is on the loose, or perhaps Jeepers Creepers 3 is being made (remember that one?).

In business, it might mean we’re dealing with a cold, hardened executive who has seen enough conmen and women to last his or her lifetime.

In my family of addiction, hollow eyes meant dad was gone to the liquid amber seduction of alcohol, and mom was numb, entering into her codependent life.

In Fire Heart, novel 2 ...

Continue Reading →
8
MAR
2

Broken Bottles, Introverts, THE STRUGGLE

, , , , , , ,

GHOSTS AND MONSTERS

Posted by:

There were many ghosts and monsters in my childhood.

  • My father, an alcoholic
  • My mother, the codependent
  • My father’s drunken friends
  • Having to ride in his truck, being taken home while he drove drunk
  • My grandmother’s pale, white face, when she was dying
  • Hiding places to avoid rage and violence

 

A story that begins Fire Heart seems out of place, about the ghosts of St. Agnes Sanitarium. But is it?

After all, this is a love story. Yes, but it’s how a woman who has come of age, ...

Continue Reading →
8
MAR
0

Broken Bottles, THE STRUGGLE, WRITING A BOOK

, , , , , , , ,

MOM BEGINS TO CHECK OUT: A CODEPENDENT IS BORN

Posted by:

After dressing in jeans and my cheer jersey, I went bounding down the stairs and found my mother at the kitchen table. That morning, her body and round face, surrounded by her dark, curly, dyed hair, seemed to be smaller.

I didn’t realize how my life was changing. Even as I resisted, my boundaries were being redefined. I was making new friends, and the things I was involved in were sophisticated.

The importance of my parents was diminishing.

As I looked at Mom ...

Continue Reading →
23
SEP
0

Broken Bottles

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

I Hated My Body Even at only Seventeen

Posted by:

EARLY ASSOCIATIONS WITH BODY TYPES

Nicky sits in the bleachers with her new women friends, wife and fiancé to two of the Goliath pitchers, the professional baseball team for which she and her friends cheer for on weekends. Her business plan was accepted, the first of its kind in baseball, and she knows Stanford, the college of her dreams, is in reach.

“Boys are too much of a risk,” I said. “I don’t want to take a chance. Hey, Ryan Tilton is ...

Continue Reading →
17
AUG
0

Broken Bottles, My Two Years as Porn Star

, , , , , , , , , , ,

Page 2 of 5 12345