Vitality Stories
Twelve Faces of Father
Alcoholics Anonymous wanted Harry to stand up in front of everyone and say, ‘I’m Harry and I AM an alcoholic.’ Shoot, isn’t it enough to try to stop drinking? He was more than these other people standing up and touting addictions, comfortable with the restrictive label of alcoholic, recovering alcoholic, or recovered alcoholic—always an alcoholic and forever measured by chips and days sober. But he wasn’t only an alcoholic, and he cringed as he was whittled away to a single thing by a bunch of people who didn’t know him. He was also a husband, father, and hard working man. He’d served in World War II as a Merchant Marine and sailed the Mediterranean for Pete’s sake! Why couldn’t he just stand up and identify himself fully? He’d rather say, ‘I’m Harry and I’m a husband, father, veteran and hard working man who has alcoholism.’ But no, everyone just accused him of denial. – Harry Sloan, Tiger Drive
Hello, My Name is Harry…
Harry Sloan is a character in my novel, Tiger Drive. Though it is literary fiction, one of my brothers refers to Harry’s chapters as faction because Harry Sloan sounds a lot like
our father, Richard Case. In truth, my dad’s alcoholism and aversions Continue reading