my closest aunt told me of the alcoholism in my family when iwas 13 yrs old...
she told me that a lot of the men in our family struggled with it.. just like my father did ( killed when i was 7)...
and if booze ever became a problem for me too.. iwas to go to AA like my twin cousins did...the twins would have celebrated 30yrs together.. except on died two weeks before hand(sober)...
i agree thouigh...we need to inform our children and neices and nephewews of a famiy diseas if it seems ot run in the family...
good topic

botbotcoco
www.londonppbbs.com

My father was an alcoholic. My two brothers and I have all had problems in our lives with drinking. I think it also has to do with the environmental factor as well, we emulate our parents, both the good and bad points. Once again, nature vs. nurture, or a combination of the two?

Snap, when I went to rehab, they asked my family history, I said my dad was, his brothers were, my Grandfather was, My Grandmother was and my Great Grandfather was, they said well there was not much hope for you was there.

But I have 2 great sons so can we change it, well someone has to break the chain, they both know our family history, they visited me in hospital, so they are fully aware of the problems they may face.

We keep an eye on each other now, sadly my sons drink, but it has not got out of control, and all we can do is monitor the situation.

Strangely all of my past family started drinking beyween 23 & 27 then they did it with a vegence, I always hoped that I would not succumb, but the crap knows no Boundries, nearly 2 years sober and intend to stay that way, I do not want my sons to lose the time that I lost with my Father.

This is a good post, for any out there, cos if there is a history in your family, you should be double carefull, it's not proven, but percentage wise it's strongly suggested that it is very possibly a gene thing.

I remebering family saying to me, your just like the rest, well I was, but I am also the first that has tried to get away from this dreaded curse.

All we can do now, is pass our experience on to others, hoping that they get the message before we did.

Thanks for the post, it stirred a few memories

Trickey

i reckon this waz a god sent this post! i waz thinking about this egzact same thing today an then i woke up came on here an bang heres the topic! i waz talkin to me old mum today askin about my dads side of the family coz i wannad to no more ,an anyway my dads dads parents were both alcohlics,my dads dad was a alcoholic(died at 55 of liver failure) an his 4 brothers were alcoholics an he had 3 sisters an 2 of them were alcoholics,so i waz wondering is it in ur jeans? well obviously it is ,an the other sad thing is my last name is all but dead an its up to me an only me to carry on with it if i dont have a son my last name is cacktus lol,and my family have had nuthing to do with my dads side of the family ever sence they left him wen they were kids, guess why??? i cant belive alcohol has ruined them to the point no one wanted to no them an now there all dead, an bang catch 22 im goin down the same path as they did ,, itz amazing how it runs in the family

Unfortunately my parents are not as enlightened as you are with your sons. My father refuses to admitt he has a problem because he drinks beer not whiskey and can stop anytime (yet never has) My mom is just sad, and child like and wanted to get drunk with me. She saw me get smashed several times but still offered me booze everytime I came over (misery loves company)Now she has been sober 6 months and she is acting righteous. My father called me a fat ass alcoholic, but then says he is just trying to help.

Both my sons know their family histories. My oldest knows of his grandfather's (both of them) alcoholisms. He knows they both died of it. He knows his father is in recovery. He knows his two uncles are also (one died recently from something else).
My youngest son knows all of this also plus the fact that his mother is an alcoholic also, sober over 20 years. They both choose to drink today. that is their choice. they both know help is there if they need it. Now I leave them into God's Hands and his Mercy. This is all we can do for our children: educate, teach, and be there. Would have like to take them to meetings when they were younger, but circumstances prevented that.

I notices also parents who start by bringing their children to meetings at an age they can understand have less problems of alcoholism with their children than parents who do not.

Even with all that info it still doesn't stop ppl from drinking. it never stopped me.