A response to D. Kubbe's article on Alcoholism.

Dear Diane,
Although, I did not see the article on Alcoholism, but I know first hand that it affects behavior and it affects everything else because it is a disease and a very ugly one at that. I dated a guy for eleven months and at first I just thought he liked to go out on the weekends and have fun with his friends, but I soon saw that it was an everyday thing with him. In that eleven months he almost burned my apartment down because he would start cooking something, but then he would pass out on the couch. I remember waking up several times at one and two in the morning to the smoke alarm and the house full of smoke. It was very frustrating because it was if I had my own baby and had to stand over it to make sure nothing happened. There were many nights that I would just cry thinking that I was the crazy one and I was the one with the problem, but I soon realized that the alcohol was the problem. There were several fights that turned physical, but I always felt bad and told myself that it won't happen again, so I didn't call the police, However, about four months ago we had a fight and he was so wasted that he told me he was going to kill me and then proceeded to do just that by choking me. I called the police this time and he went right to jail and was convicted of domestic violence and is now serving 93 days in jail. I know all too well how alcohol is a disease because an alcoholics first and only priority is the bottle and nothing else. After this incident I did a lot of reasearch just so that I could understand the disease more and not ever have to re-live something so terrorfying again. I always like to research things that I'm not completely educated on; that is why having media is a good thing.