Things I’m Thankful For This Thanksgiving

My Stepfather

My mother and stepfather had been married

Three years when I was hit with polio.

I was seven years old at the time.

My step father stayed up at nights rubbing

My pained racked legs, and balancing

My head while I was vomiting

It was my step father who held me in his arms

When my cousin died from Leukemia

When she was eight – I was ten.

It was my step father who took me on my first

Fathers and sons camp out as I reached

Nine and he helped me slip on boots

It was my step father who held my dying mother

As she slipped away in that morning hour

And we talked about what we had lost

My step father was never called my step father.

He was my father, I was his son and

That was what mattered.

 

Myth Of Alcoholism

I have been known for stating that my mother and father were alcoholics.

Wish to god I had never said that. I was wrong to do it.

My mother and father cared for me until I went out on my own.

My father never missed a day of work because of his drinking, at least not that I know of.

My mother sheltered me from potential violence my entire life. In fact my mother never spanked or hit me my entire life.

My mother enjoyed having parties at her home. Her friends were hard drinking types.

Among her friends she had the reputation of being a good business person.

Yes, my parents drank. Yes, it bothered me – greatly. But, on the other hand, I never went without. I was treated with care and concern.

Why then would I make a point of calling them alcoholics? And suggest by that they fell short of caring for me? Times change, and my attitudes about many things have changed.

While things can bother children when they are young, they do not necessarily impair them. In fact children see things in exaggerated form when they are young and tend to hang onto them as they grow older. Such was my case.

There are children who are mistreated when they are young, and it impacts them negatively during their lifetime. Such was definitely not the case with me.

Drinkers they were, even heavy drinkers at times. But solid parents, yes. I have no complaints. Life has worked out well for me.