Stranger living in my house

10/21/2014

There is a stranger living in my house. My Father was diagnosed 4 years ago June. He was a painter, professional singer, church deacon and my Father. He is still my Father, but not the Father that I have known for all my years.

My Father grew up in the foot hills of the Appalachian Mountains.  He met my Mother at age 21 (she was 19) and they were married soon after. He was in the Merchant Marines and traveled quite a lot. He also was an alcoholic. I was born when Mother was 21.  We traveled all over the Eastern United States when his station was changed.  I never went to a school for more than 2 years at a time. When I was 12 he left the military to begin civilian life. His drinking was hitting an all time high and my Mother was unsure how we were going to survive.  We moved one last time and Mother decided that she would get a job to keep food on the table. My Father, JW, would work a job for a few months and then he would disappear for a day or a week. Mother never knew if he was coming back.

The only reason that I am telling you this is so you can understand the complex feelings that we deal with now.

Around 1973 my Mother divorced JW and told him that there was no more place for him to crash after a wild drunk.  She moved out of our house and got a small apartment by herself. He followed. She told him to either commit himself to a facility to sober up or get out and go live with family in another state. He went to live with his family in Tennessee and that lasted a month.

He came back and committed himself to a psychiatric hospital for 3 months and sobered up. That was when he started singing and painting, to fill his time.