My sister-in-law died last night. She had been battling drinking demons for a few years and last night the demons won.
She left behind two sons and one daughter. Two of the children are out of the house and on their own, the youngest at 16 is still at home. He’s very angry with his mother.
When I joined the family my sister-in-law was considered one of the fun ones. She always seemed happy and in a good mood. She was the oldest daughter in a family of 7. 4 boys and 3 girls. She was married twice. The first ended in divorce. Her second husband died a few years ago from H.I.V.
It is hard to understand how our demons will affect us and what sets them off. We all have them but most of us are able to keep them hidden and under control. Since her second husbands death it seems her demons had the upper hand. She comes from a family of drinkers but she had never seemed to drink to excess. I would have thought she was only a social drinker and don’t believe I ever saw her drunk. Over the last few years we started hearing stories of her being drunk early in the morning and of drinking till she passed out. Certainly not behavior I would have expected.
When we start looking back we will notice some of the tell tale signs. She had distanced herself from her family. I saw it as her being busy with her own life but now I have to wonder. At the time of her death she was again enrolled in a program to help her with her drinking problem. She had been through at least one other program a few years ago and she had high hopes for this program.
Ultimately her problem was probably the demon depression which manifested itself in drinking.
Life is so precious and so fragile.
