I read a blog about addiction the other day. I would like to write about the others involved in the situation.
My husband started drinking heavily after our children were born. All of a sudden I was left on my own for a large part of the time. He would come home and take a beer with him to walk in the garden to relax, sometimes I joined him, (minus the beer) but that was also the time to get the meal on the table.
Dinner over it was time to clean up, get the children ready for bed, by this time he had had enough to drink, and also went to bed. Nine'o clock and I was all alone, in a silent house.
I joined the library and read a lot, also I enjoyed crocheting and that's what I did for 2 hours every night.
I had it easier than most addicts' dependents, he never beat us up. We always had food and a roof over our heads. When he was drunk he liked to tickle the children.
Once my husband stopped drinking it was like culture shock, all of a sudden there was conversation, and I didn't know what to say, being used to the silence. I made lots of tea -to replace all the beer he used to drink. After that we built our relationship all over and that was loads of fun.
I used to gather with the dependents of other addicts (they were mostly married to alcoholics) and we would have our own occasional meetings. We all had the same problems with our husbands and of course some of the ladies had had a much worse time than I did. By talking about the problems we found out what other dependents did, and maybe we could try them too.
It I now 20 years since my husband stopped drinking, we are still friends with those people we met then and still get together from time to time.