Scott

Unfortunately my sister and I have no memories of our father, he died of and alcohol and barbiturate overdose at age 30. My sister and I were only 2 and 18 months old. Even though we grew up knowing very little we did know that he fought courageously in the Vietnam war and had earned 2 Purple Hearts after being injured in combat. Our mom says he never talked about his time in Vietnam so I imagine there were things that were never resolved for him. Our mom told stories about her desperation to get him help but he was not able to stay sober after detox. She would safety pin herself to him at night so she would know if he left to drink. I can’t imagine what that would have been like for my mom who was only 21 years old. When I was young I remember feeling confused and even angry at him. “Was he a bad guy”? “Why wouldn’t he just stop drinking”? Luckily In my 20’s I learned about addiction and understand how incredibly hard it is to recover. I have connected with a few of his old friends and now know that my dad was incredibly nice and he was a natural at everything he tried. He loved to fish, hunt, camp, ride dirt bikes and he loved his daughters. I still wish I had memories but I have been incredibly lucky to have a step-father who raised us as his own and who celebrated his 35 years in recovery from substance use this year. Thank you for this platform to honor my dad.