Growing Up with an Alcoholic Mom

Growing Up with an Alcoholic Mom

This story isn’t about me, but about a friend who inspires me daily. (I’ll refer to her as Chloe to not give away her identity) Her journey with an Alcoholic Mom.

I have known Chloe practically all of my life. When we were younger I’d see Chloe being rude to her mother every time I went over to her house. I used to think that she was a brat for behaving that way.

About two years ago I was at Chloe’s house and was greeted by her mum at the door. She was acting odd and smelt strongly of alcohol. That day Chloe told me that her mother was an alcoholic, and had been for years.

The next two years was a rollercoaster for Chloe, who was studying for her A levels, applying to university and being involved in a very intense and emotionally draining relationship. In addition to all of this, her mother’s addiction was causing trouble at home.

This summer, Chloe did not manage to get into the universities that she wanted to and had to take a gap year. She broke off the relationship with her boyfriend and took up a job as a waitress. She is now taking an online university course and has been accepted to three different universities. One of which was unconditional.

This year she spent some time living alone and this month she went travelling to Paris and is currently in London. She’s the happiest I’ve ever seen her. If you were to talk to her you would not have guessed that just six months ago she was at her lowest point.

Experience of Having a Mother who is an Alcoholic

Whenever she has the opportunity to share some of the wisdom that the experience of having a mother who is an alcoholic, she always says that no matter what a good and decent person you are, you can never control what happens to you. What you can control is how you react to it, and that is how you can be happy in life.

By Becca Bonello Ghio

ww.al-anon.alateen.org/for-alateen

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