Hi here's some of my story... please share yours

Hello Jimbo,
I also am an Adult Child of an Alcoholic. You are welcome to check my postings in the interest group called "Addiction Recovery". Since many of us online live far away from big cities, it is difficult to find and attend support groups that can be extremely beneficial. So a few of us have found a way to have mini meetings here on MyLot. You are very welcome to join in. Btw, we have homework. LOL It helps us to actually work towards a goal. Each of us is either dealing with a personal addiction or the addition of another person in our lives (co-dependency). You are not alone in your struggle.

I also have spent many years battling with severe depression. I have a very hard time knowing what is "normal" since there was nothing normal about my childhood.
Come join us. Share and take away what will help you. Allow us to wrap our cyber arms around you and comfort you.

((hugs))
Stay Safe, Stand Strong
Royal Mom

Hi jimbo. Luckily I never lived in an abusive family life until I got married. Both my parents, especially my Mother, was a very dedicated Christian so I was raised in church. When I got married and started having children, my husband became mentally abusive so after almost 15 years of marriage, he divorced me for another woman. I went through a really rough time for about 9 years staying depressed and anxious, but I grew closer to the Lord Jesus Christ through all this. I remarried to a mentally disturbed man and again was abused, mostly verbally, but ocassionally he got physical. We only stayed married 2 years and I finally divorced him. Again I remarried 9 years later to a wonderful man, but is what you call a functioning alcoholic. He works hard, pays the bills, and provides a roof over my head so I can't really complain. I started going to Alanon meetings to learn how to deal with him when he goes on a binge, and that has helped a lot. I'd like to get in a support group on line because I live so far out in the country, I can't always get to my meetings. God bless you and keep you head up. Things do get better when you can call on the Lord and have friends on mylot to talk to.
Donna

crap I typed out a long response and clicked submit and it vanished!
the world is not F*%^%&^* out to get you
there are people that care about you
I dont really have anything to share because I really didnt have that big of problems in comparison to what you and others experienced
But I am offering a hug if you want it

I lost my cat and afraid to be rejected by a girl..

Hey Jimbo
I didn't grow up in an alcoholic family but boy was it disfunctional! Still is.. My parents were divorced and I was a "weekend" child. My mom and stepdad had another child and my dad and stepmom had two others. I was the blacksheep in my family cause it seemed everybody doted on my other brothers and sisters. My life was not nearly as bad as yours, though, and I feel guilty for complaining but we all get along today and I guess that's what matters. I'm so sorry you had such a bad life but you have to remember.....YOU are the only one that can make your life better. You have to find some help somewhere. I hope you are utilizing the interent and going to those online meetings that one poster suggested. It may seem like the end of the world at times but if you look hard enough there really are people that care. I wish I was there to give you a big hug. In the meantime, please accept this huge cyber hug. The best of luck to you and may God bless you. Please, don't ever give up.

You have lived though many hardships and tragedies, nothing I can say will erase that for you, but I can tell you that I care and so do a lot of others here at mylot.
My dad was an alcoholic, but he was a very good man. When he was drunk, it wasn't him - it was a loud violent entity I called "drunk dad", not my father who had the biggest heart of any man I ever knew, that man was Daddy.
my dad struggled for years, sometimes he'd be sober for up to an entire year before falling back to the old way. A lot of it had to do with his Irish Catholic upbringing, drink to celebrate, drown your sorrows, I deserve a beer (or 20) after a hard day's work - you get the idea.
He became very sick in his 50s, and did ultimately stop drinking, but it was too late, he had irreversible liver damage and the last two years of his life were filed with sickness, pain, and trips to the hospital. One day he got up and said he felt pretty good. He actually was able to get out of bed and keep his breakfast down for the first time in months. Our family dogs wouldn't leave him alone, I wish I'd recognized the sign. That day in the afternoon he had a stroke and heart attack in my kitchen, My mother and I tried in vain to get him to come back to us while waiting for the ambulance. The EMT's managed to get his heart going again, but it was too late. His brain had been without oxygen for too long and he languished in a coma for eight days before dying. He was only 58 years old. That was almost 8 years ago and I am still as messed up form it as if it happened only yesterday.
I was his little girl, a princess who now is left without her king.
My father missed my wedding and my children will never know their grandfather in this lifetime.
Alcohol is a terrible drug and leads to so much destruction of people's lives. I find it a crying shame that more awareness is not made available about how dangerous it really is.
I am sorry for all you went through and all you still have to deal with. By sharing your pain, you may help others to release what is burning a hole through their hearts, and maybe someone will realize that they are not alone in their sorrow. I thank you for that.
I hope the sun finds you through even the darkest clouds and that you are able to find the strength that I KNOW you have to get through all the trouble that this life throws at you.
You are stringer than you know, and a much better man than you give yourself credit for.
Hang in there, friend, we're all pulling for you!

jimbomuso-quite the little read there, but it helps me understand you a little better. I'm gonna leave ya a few links here; I posted my story about 5 months back, and it's too long to repost as a response.

http://www.mylot.com/w/discussions/1563927.aspx

http://www.mylot.com/w/discussions/1563926.aspx

We haven't talked a lot here in myLot, but the exchanges we have had make me think that we're not much different from each other. Hang in there friend, and remember you've got people here that will listen any time you need us.