.
Today is my birthday. Tomorrow is my father's. Today is also the anniversary of hurricane Katrina. It was that year I was wall to wall with evacuee's and my father returned from vacation and it was hard for us to get together that year. I also lost 2 friends mid Sept. and my father was in an accident first week of Oct. We never exchanged cards that year but the gift he gave me is invaluable.
A few years before Katrina I had lost my 2 Afghan Hounds and a grandson within a years time. Doing a 180 from the reputation of the soberist bar manager in New Orleans, 'land of bars', I started to drink. I then opened my own bar where I would drink a case of beer before leaving and end up at friends bars where I progressed to bottles of rum, jack, gin...whatever my entourage and I decided to roll with. Sometimes I would ride with other bar owners in an RV hopping all of our bars that lined the path from New Orleans, Slidell, and into Biloxi and go for days. I was suffering severe liver damage and ignoring the doctors. I was self destructive.
2 hurricanes hit in the same month less than 2 years before Katrina damaging my beach house. My father's love, support, and determination to get me home and sober me up put things in motion for me. I came home...but it took another 2 years to become sober. It was after his death I started to try and keep my promise to him.
I still drink now and then with the doc's permission but it doesn't even add up to 4 times a year. And that's the holidays and our birthdays. That gift of love, support and determination became my saving grace. I think it prolonged my life and I am able to enjoy the love of my dog Paros, Jim, and others.
Happy Birthday, Dad...your love and words still ride with me. You did your job well and I pray God's love enables you to rest in peace. I know you were my gift and blessing from him and I can't help but miss you still.
Today is my birthday. Tomorrow is my father's. Today is also the anniversary of hurricane Katrina. It was that year I was wall to wall with evacuee's and my father returned from vacation and it was hard for us to get together that year. I also lost 2 friends mid Sept. and my father was in an accident first week of Oct. We never exchanged cards that year but the gift he gave me is invaluable.
A few years before Katrina I had lost my 2 Afghan Hounds and a grandson within a years time. Doing a 180 from the reputation of the soberist bar manager in New Orleans, 'land of bars', I started to drink. I then opened my own bar where I would drink a case of beer before leaving and end up at friends bars where I progressed to bottles of rum, jack, gin...whatever my entourage and I decided to roll with. Sometimes I would ride with other bar owners in an RV hopping all of our bars that lined the path from New Orleans, Slidell, and into Biloxi and go for days. I was suffering severe liver damage and ignoring the doctors. I was self destructive.2 hurricanes hit in the same month less than 2 years before Katrina damaging my beach house. My father's love, support, and determination to get me home and sober me up put things in motion for me. I came home...but it took another 2 years to become sober. It was after his death I started to try and keep my promise to him.
I still drink now and then with the doc's permission but it doesn't even add up to 4 times a year. And that's the holidays and our birthdays. That gift of love, support and determination became my saving grace. I think it prolonged my life and I am able to enjoy the love of my dog Paros, Jim, and others.Happy Birthday, Dad...your love and words still ride with me. You did your job well and I pray God's love enables you to rest in peace. I know you were my gift and blessing from him and I can't help but miss you still.
I will always blow out the candles for us both :}