Alcoholism in the Family

Fiorella had a mid-morning call from a friend who was seeking advice about dealing with her adult kids, something that Fio admits she's not done a particularly good job of, maybe because her offspring are as headstrong as their mother.
      During the conversation--in which Fiorella, trapped in the bathroom, was pulling up her jeans, adjusting a bra, and working one of Husband's tees over her head--Friend mentioned that she is a recovering alcoholic.
     Now, alcoholism is something Fiorella DOES know something about. Her late husband and her maternal grandfather were full-blown guzzlers.
     Husband was born with alcoholic genes--his maternal uncle and grandfather were full time alcoholics--and when he was in his teens, he hooked up with other high school guzzlers. Being in a college fraternity didn't help, and neither did the elite look-the-other-way club that Husband took Fio to on their first date--which was also the first time she had ever tasted liquor except for holy communion
    Then came the evening that Fiorella staggered into her dorm room drunk as a skunk and vomited on the bed covers. From then on, she was more circumspect, especially since she realized that the only reason she was drinking was to make Husband (then her fiance) happy.
     Moving forward about ten years, Fio eventually became a teetotaler, but Husband, despite AA and other programs, still smuggled liquor into the house until, about four years before his death, he had a blackout and couldn't even remember his phone number or birth date. Fiorella called on the family for help, and Daughter gave him the tongue-lashing of his life, which finally convinced him to stop drinking. Husband died sober, but Fio wishes he had cleaned up his act earlier.
     Gramp's story will come later.