Happy hour?

“Before I ride with a drunk, I’ll drive myself.”

—STEVIE WONDER, SINGER AND ENTERTAINER

Two brothers sat at a cluttered kitchen table. The house reeked of stale alcohol. Flies hovered over piles of dirty dishes. Dad was drunk on the couch. One child was perched in front of the television while the other was immersed in his schoolwork. One father—two boys. One situation—an alcoholic father, an absent mother. Both boys lived out the same hell on earth with daily verbal and physical abuse and neglect.

One brother ran with a fast crowd who helped him find an escape. Like his father, he found it in drugs and alcohol. This second-generation alcoholic lived from bottle to bottle, barely finding odd jobs, earning just enough money to continue his habit. The second brother buried himself in his schoolwork. A teacher praised his efforts, and consequently he excelled. He worked hard and won a scholarship to an Ivy League school. He went on to become a well-respected lawyer. One day a newspaper chose to write a profile on their local hero. The reporter asked the young man, "Is it true your father was an alcoholic?"

"It's true. I had an alcoholic father--that's why I am where I am today. I decided early on I wasn't going to waste my life the way he did."

Meanwhile the first brother continued on his path of destruction. Eventually his employer gave him the choice of losing his job or entering a rehabilitation clinic. He chose the latter. The counselor in the rehab program listened as he described his childhood: "I had an alcoholic father-that's why I'm where I am today." Same home. Same father. But different outcomes. Thank goodness we can control the outcomes of our lives.

Only I am in control of my life. I will take full responsibility for my circumstances.