functioning alcoholic...or what was your pattern?
Just wondering about your alcoholic drinking pattern.
When at my sickest, i would buy a 1/2pint vodka and a six-pack of beer on my way home...most days of the week. I would finish 1/2 the vodka before going inside. When inside i would crack open a beer...mostly to mask the vodka on my breath. At some point over the next hour i would finish the vodka...usually in the garage...hiding it. One or two more beers before i was done(i thought the appearanceof only drinking a few beers was keeping my problem hidden...). I'd then proceed to act a normal, happy father and husband.
My wife would occaisionally make comments but not force the issue...(she is a social drinker)...and my kids were beginning to tune into the fact that dad was altered.
I regret that so much. That 'away' time in a buzz was time'away' from my children...even when i was with them. I'm still trying to come to terms with that...
This aspect of my drinking...the hard liquor and conealing it in my house...i did my best to deceive my family and did so very well. I was utterly alone in my illness...for a long time.
At any rate, did any of you have a pattern similar to mine? Hard liquor? Family? Hiding it? Hiding it well?
Is this the common tale of a functioning alcoholic?