2006 Starts Off Minty Fresh
The Sister-in-law got kicked out of a half-way house in Maryland. The head of the house said “She doesn’t give a fuck about anyone or anything but herself and drinking her Listerine.” Apparently she was threatening the other girls’ sobriety – which is a bit surprising to me since the Sister is jaundiced, has a bit of a pigeon-toed gate, stringy hair and speaks with erratic gestures and slurred words.
Yes, my sister-in-law’s “drug of choice” is alcohol in the form of mouthwash. Her liver is so shot now that it doesn’t take much to send her sailing and keep her there. A normal liver detoxes about an ounce of alcohol an hour: hers doesn’t work much, and so the stuff circulates in her bloodstream for days.
So of course, the Mother-in-law wrings her hands and waits for magic to happen – for someone to make a decision about what to do with this person. An AA member takes the Sister in – but her boyfriend doesn’t like that idea, so they’ve driven her up to the Mother-in-law’s house.
Sister convinced Mother to take her in: “I just want to apologize to you and (the Wife) and say my goodbyes.”
Hear the violins? Yeah, I do too. Too bad they don’t work on me. Mother-in-law is pissed at me because I refused to drive down to Maryland, pick up the Sister-in-law and drive her to another half-way house locally. Only later does she admit that you can’t just dump somebody off at a half-way house: she just wanted someone else to make a decision for her. I told Mother that all the sister had to do to get back in to her first half-way house was to admit that she was using.
After all, the counselor showed her the results of a positive BAC test done that very morning – and it read .4 (that’s coma time for non-drunks – normal for Sister-in-law). Sister-in-law denied she’s been drinking.
Mother-in-law is sick with codependency; a year and a half in church basements at AlAnon meetings have not gotten through to her at all.
It’s okay, I tell myself. There is plenty of room on my workbench behind the Buddha statue.
That’s where her husband’s ashes are for the moment. The Sister-in-law’s will go there too.
Chad:
Ugh… i think you guys are ready for a restart, Life 2.0. Thats what we feel we did.
9 January 2006, 4:22 pm