And that was, I think, what started me on the path of looking at my alcoholic dad as a person. No longer just my dad. I saw him as a person with several diseases, including alcoholism, that I had never seen before. Detachment. And all the hurts of my childhood started to slowly melt away. I began to realize that HE did not do these things to me, that all that I suffered was a result of living in a family severely affected by disease. I began to no longer NEED my father to acknowledge my hurts and everything that happened to me. And anyway, he didn't notice it THEN, while it was happening, so what was him acknowledging it NOW going to do? I did not have to live in the past any longer. I could look at me, NOW, in the Present Moment and allow myself to forget the past because no one can change it. Can't turn back time. And so I no longer needed my daddy to fix these things. I no longer needed my dad, the alcoholic, to take the blame for all the problems that each and every one of us had experienced. I began to mature emotionally into a woman, no longer a child. And I could FEEL this happen, I could FEEL myself become more mature. I stood outside myself and saw and heard myself dealing with others with maturity. And I listened to others, including my siblings, and I heard the little children crying out for their parent to alleviate the pain, to take the blame. That is when I began to understand the concept of "Parenting Your Inner Child." And I believe that begins with Acceptance of truth. And we all know, Oprah ALWAYS tells the truth
L2L I read this over and over it is said wonderfully thank you. I'm not there yet but it is my destination. I want everyone here to know that I learn so much from all of you. I read about the person that said they were raised by wolves and I feel that way also. I have no model to go by.