Everyone in my family is an alcoholic — except me. Here’s why…

I’ve always been the black sheep in my family — not being an alcoholic is just one of my differences.

Growing up in my house, or I should say houses (we moved 8 times before I moved out at 15) was messy. My mom was a sloppy drunk, she would pass out with food on the stove on the regular and nearly burn the house down, she basically lived on the couch watching TV — when she wasn’t cooking, or crashing our cars.

I can’t remember how many car accidents we were in, but she totaled at least 4 vehicles when drunk. It made me a very aware driver, so thanks mom!

My dad was also a heavy drinker, always with a can of Kokanee beer in hand, but he was more of a “functioning” alcoholic. Probably because he sobered up nicely with cocaine, and because he had been doing this routine for so many years that I probably wouldn’t have recognized him if he was sober.

As I got older, I noticed that everyone in my family drank a lot. At every family event, everyone got wasted. I was mostly focused on my mom, because I lived with her and was most affected by her, but as I started to understand addiction I saw it in my aunts and uncles.

I have always been a really open person, so I would ask my mom about it. She solidified my theory, stating that all her siblings had addiction issues and her parents did as well. She told me it “ran in the family” just like…