by Lauren King
And then I was born…. and the cycle continued.
My name is Lauren and my dad was an alcoholic. Watching him drink was as normal as breathing. I can remember the daily progression of his love affair with alcohol. From the time he stopped at the gas station to pick up his twelve pack of beer, to the quick onset of the slurring of his words, to finally passing out to the point that not even an earthquake could wake him up. All of this was very confusing for me as a young girl but there was one thing that I was sure of. I knew his drinking took precedence and that was because he was an alcoholic.
The one truth that I carried with me into my teens was that I never wanted to grow up and be like my dad, a drunk. What I found out once I started drinking myself was that I had an uncontrollable desire to drink just like my father did. The best way I can describe it is that I craved alcohol like a vampire craves blood. I needed it to sustain me. I needed it to help me cope with my feelings. I needed it to converse with others. I needed it to feel normal in my own skin. The big question was, how could I hate my father’s alcoholism so much, yet end up with the same addiction that he was battling?
My addiction came hard and fast. Starting at fourteen it progressed to the point that at the age of seventeen I found myself standing at a crossroads in my life. Get sober or die. I knew that if I didn’t get sober that I was going to end up overdosing or going to sleep one night and not waking up from all the damage that the drugs and alcohol were doing to my body. Standing at that fork in the road, one path looked dark and the other had a light at the end of it. It was the light of hope. As I chose the path of recovery I knew that I wanted the cycle to end with me. I now have two beautiful girls of my own and know that I may one day face the fact that this disease may slam right into their generation. As a family we are now armed with information along with hope, which are two of the most important tools to have in our arsenal to help us fight against this disease from ravaging our family once again.
Lauren King the co-author with her mother of ADDICTED LIKE ME, A Mother-Daughter Story Of Substance Abuse and Recovery (www.addictedlikeme.com), has spent the past twelve years living a sober life. She is currently pursuing a degree in Chemical Dependency. She lives in Surprise, Arizona, with her husband and two daughters.
