Yes,she was drinking when I met her. I am an ACOA and grew up in a blue collar city neighborhood. Hard drinking was just part of the lifestyle. Looking back I can see she was a functional A the whole time. But we married young and both of us enjoyed it. I have to admit that I skated pretty close to the edge a few times but I always backed off. It wasn't until 15 to 20 years later that it started to get bad.
Why did I stay so long? I guess it was because I put so much of myself into the marriage. I read a quote that says the person who put the most into the marriage has the most to loose. That pretty much covers it.