My father was an alcoholic and it caused a lot of fights and chaos in our house. My mother was always telling us kids that she was going to divorce him but she never did. He died instead not by alcohol but by cancer. When I was young I thought we were the most normal family around until I got older and looked back on those years with opened eyes.
My kids are now adults who don't speak to their dad and won't unless he seeks recovery which is very unlikely. I have a great relationship with them and have asked their forgiveness for allowing them to grow up in such an atmosphere. My daughter just recently told me that her and her brother have made an agreement that if either one of them see any signs of alcoholism in the other they would call them on it. Now, that makes me happy.