legacy of alcoholism
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legacy of alcoholism
I had a flashback last night. It was the story of my great-grandfather. He was from Norway and with my great-grandmother, who was from Sweden, came to the US for The Homestead Act of 1860. They were given 5 acres of lands and if they farmed it for 5 years, it was theirs. They were given land in North Dakota, terribly cold and terribly empty. Their first home was a sod house. Life was hard and there were lots of babies born. I believe 7, but one died very young. They are all passed away now so no one to ask.
My GGF, his name was John, and he was an alcoholic. He would periodically just up and leave the family and hop on a boat back to Norway.
He would also take all the family money.
They would wake up and realize he was gone. He would be gone months or a year or more, they never knew when he was coming back. I heard stories about the kids eating grass, dirt, a rotten potato, anything they could find that they thought might be edible. My GM's brother drank lye one day because he was so hungry and didn't realize. He had some permanent damage from the lye.
John would come back, work, earn money, drink a lot of it and then hop on a boat back to Norway.
The children hated him. All of them grew up to be alcoholics. Severe alcoholics. My grandmother had only vodka and orange juice as a drink, but we know that isn't a light drink. She had to control her drinking because my GF developed MS and was in a wheelchair and she had to get a job and support the family, which thankfully was just her, my GF, and my mother. She lost brothers and sisters to severe alcoholism and she lost them relatively young. I have memories of my mother telling my GM she is not to drink around us. I have memories of my mother also saying that to some of her cousins. They are not to show up drunk at our house. I never understood why my mother kept such a distance, but she would often say, my kids aren't going to grow up to be alcoholics.
I named my 1st daughter after my great-grandmother mainly because I liked the name. The fact that it was also a family name was nice.
I was visiting relatives one day in Minnesota, that is where everyone eventually moved to, and my mother's cousin asked why I gave my daughter the name I did. The name is not uncommon, so I didn't really get why she was asking. I said I liked it and it was my GGM's name. She said "oh you mean the one they all hated?"
At the time, my mom's cousin was a heavy alcoholic. I don't know if what she said is true as I never heard my mother say anything bad about my GGM.
This cousin's dad was the one who drank the lye. He became a huge alcoholic, married an alcoholic, and had 2 alcoholic children. His daughter destroyed her life with alcohol, I can't even locate her. His son was arrested for selling methamphetamine in LA and served some prison time. He has 3 children and I believe the wife, also an alcoholic, up and left him, with the kids.
From an alcoholic father, all the children were alcoholics. There were alcoholic grandchildren, and there are probably alcoholic great-grandchildren, well that would be me I guess.
My grandmother passed at 78 and had regrets about smoking and drinking. Scandinavians can live long. So many times, on Good Morning America, when they show the birthdays passed 100, I see Scandinavian names. If she lived to be 100, she would still be alive today to see my kids who she never met.
When you think that alcoholism can easily take 2-3 decades from your life, how is that fun? how is anything that robs you of life fun? I don't know if I want to be alive at 100, but I know I don't want alcohol to make that choice for me.
My GGF, his name was John, and he was an alcoholic. He would periodically just up and leave the family and hop on a boat back to Norway.
He would also take all the family money.
They would wake up and realize he was gone. He would be gone months or a year or more, they never knew when he was coming back. I heard stories about the kids eating grass, dirt, a rotten potato, anything they could find that they thought might be edible. My GM's brother drank lye one day because he was so hungry and didn't realize. He had some permanent damage from the lye.
John would come back, work, earn money, drink a lot of it and then hop on a boat back to Norway.
The children hated him. All of them grew up to be alcoholics. Severe alcoholics. My grandmother had only vodka and orange juice as a drink, but we know that isn't a light drink. She had to control her drinking because my GF developed MS and was in a wheelchair and she had to get a job and support the family, which thankfully was just her, my GF, and my mother. She lost brothers and sisters to severe alcoholism and she lost them relatively young. I have memories of my mother telling my GM she is not to drink around us. I have memories of my mother also saying that to some of her cousins. They are not to show up drunk at our house. I never understood why my mother kept such a distance, but she would often say, my kids aren't going to grow up to be alcoholics.
I named my 1st daughter after my great-grandmother mainly because I liked the name. The fact that it was also a family name was nice.
I was visiting relatives one day in Minnesota, that is where everyone eventually moved to, and my mother's cousin asked why I gave my daughter the name I did. The name is not uncommon, so I didn't really get why she was asking. I said I liked it and it was my GGM's name. She said "oh you mean the one they all hated?"
At the time, my mom's cousin was a heavy alcoholic. I don't know if what she said is true as I never heard my mother say anything bad about my GGM.
This cousin's dad was the one who drank the lye. He became a huge alcoholic, married an alcoholic, and had 2 alcoholic children. His daughter destroyed her life with alcohol, I can't even locate her. His son was arrested for selling methamphetamine in LA and served some prison time. He has 3 children and I believe the wife, also an alcoholic, up and left him, with the kids.
From an alcoholic father, all the children were alcoholics. There were alcoholic grandchildren, and there are probably alcoholic great-grandchildren, well that would be me I guess.
My grandmother passed at 78 and had regrets about smoking and drinking. Scandinavians can live long. So many times, on Good Morning America, when they show the birthdays passed 100, I see Scandinavian names. If she lived to be 100, she would still be alive today to see my kids who she never met.
When you think that alcoholism can easily take 2-3 decades from your life, how is that fun? how is anything that robs you of life fun? I don't know if I want to be alive at 100, but I know I don't want alcohol to make that choice for me.
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Join Date: Jul 2014
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Thank you for the story, soberjuly. A lot of people drank an awful lot back then. I've heard that Prohibition was a success in that it brought awareness to folks and that it actually did decrease alcohol consumption on average in the U.S. I don't know if that still holds true but UI thought it was interesting.
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