April is Alcohol Awareness Month, bringing back moments of when I’ve seen alcohol affect lives – both mine and the people surrounding me.
I was 2 when my mom met my dad, Kenny and honestly, I don’t remember a day without his joy in my life. He always tells our story of me as this dancing, singing, happy, almost three-year-old who came into his life and filled it with loudness and joyfulness that he never wanted to go away.
Then when I was 12, my best friend said this was the last year we could ever go to the daddy-daughter dance, and she thought we should go. My best friend and her dad had gone almost every year, and seeing the wonderful memories they made, there was nothing more I wanted than to make those memories with my dad.
However, I was so scared to ask him to take me because at that time, he drank, and Saturday night, I knew he would want to drink rather than go to a daddy-daughter dance with me.
I remember getting the courage to ask him to go with me, but when I said I knew he would rather drink, I saw the whole world collapse in his eyes. How could I ever think he would choose a drink before spending time with me?
That’s what alcoholism can do. It can change not only the person who drinks’ perspective but every single person in their lives’ perspective.
My dad quit drinking that same year. He sat the whole family down, set a date to stop, and did just that.
He would never let someone he cares about think a drink could be more important than them. He loves so deeply that every single person in his life is more important than any vice.
Drinking is a disease, and seeing someone quit “cold turkey” because it’s important to them is truly inspiring. My dad’s strength is my inspiration. I look up to him in so many ways.
Thank you Kenny for being the best father!