When I was very young (that had to be atleast 38 yrs ago) my brother and i were dropped off at my father's uncles farm to stay for two weeks as Mom and Dad sorted out their own problems. Biggest problem was their oldest son who has always been 39. We stayed on that farm for 5 years of the best and most formative years of my life. My cousin had married a man who became a drinker. He was the biggest influence on my life. One of the things he told me during the period in his life when he "...drink any one under the table..." was, "Tink, if you feel like you would enjoy having a beer, or any other beverage, relax and enjoy. When you fel like you need a drink, leave it." At the time, he was a hard drinker. He was still sober enough to wish me well and still give good advice on so many things important to my life when i went into the military. When I came home, he was gone. I have heard many stories about his final years. about his wandering from job to job because, not his lack of skills, but his drinking. As far as I could comprehend, he could not live up to the advice he had given to me so many years ago. I think he knew his fate at the time.
Later in my own life, I had been doing very well in my trade, but increasingly bothered with severe back pain. A bottle of Scotch in my tool bag was always handy for a short while. When pain got too much, the scotch deadened it somewhat, until my cousin's shadow appeard to tell me the scotch was no solution. I remembered the advice he had given me many years before. Since then, I have been very fortunate that I no longer drink at any time if I feel I need the drink. I do have the glass of wine with my dinner and often, I thank God and my cuz that I have the strength to only have that one. There are others in this world who are not so fortunate.
Tinker
