I'm having a miserable time gettin into the spirit

[seclark]

1972
Christmas day...my birthday. my mother and us kids were living w/my grandmother in st. louis. mom had just packed us up and left my dad a month earlier. dad was in a detox ward 150 miles away. after we left him, he'd hit rock bottom, quit his job before he was fired and checked himself in. we had no money, food came from grandmas job. didn't know what the future had in store for us. the only gifts we got was a bag of oranges from the lady next door.

we'd gone to my aunts house for Christmas dinner. it was awful. people were trying to be nice, because they all felt sorry for us, i guess.

about 1:30 the doorbell rang. i went up and answered it. i opened the door to see my father standing there, not knowing whether he'd be welcomed or not. he'd started working on the detox ward, helping w/new patients and such. they had a patient that needed sent to st.louis for something, and he was allowed to help bring him down. it was the first time i ever remembered hugging my father(12 years old). he was only there for about 15 minutes, but he told us all how he was doing his best to get himself straightened out, and if possible, we could all be together as a family again.

he did. he got out and got a job, eventually going back to what he did when everything blew up. two weeks later, i moved back w/him. the next week, so did my older brother. two weeks after that, mom and my sisters came back. he stayed sober and was the best father i could ever have for the last 36 years of his life.

1972
Christmas day. the best Christmas i ever had. no gifts. just hope.

sec