My father is a 60-year-old “functioning” alcoholic — whatever that means. My parents own a business together and he goes to work every day, comes home and makes a lot of money. None of us in my immediate family realized he was an alcoholic until about eight years ago when he had to go to the emergency room for acute pancreatitis. It was horrible; he was in a sort of coma, going through DT’s, and he nearly died. The doctor told us that he was an alcoholic and that he had to quit drinking. Looking back, I can’t believe we were all so blind to what was actually happening. I always thought he drank too much, but it never really occurred to me that he wouldn’t be able to stop. …

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