Drank Herself To Death

My mother was always a party girl. That's why she was in London in the first place: the party and meet British men. Well, she did that, and came back to Montana with a little fetus inside her. That's me.

Single parenthood didn't agree with her. She tried, she really did, but it was too much for her. So she drank. That was her coping mechanism. You'd have to sniff glasses of water to make sure they weren't vodka. Boxed wine was basically big juiceboxes, and it wasn't uncommon to be looking for something around the house and stumble upon one of her backup bottles of liquor.When her boyfriend moved in it didn't get any better. They'd drink together and pass out in bed. They passed out more than they actually ever fell asleep.

5 years after I ran away, she tracked me down and made contact. She was sick, the message said, and she was going to die. She had coronary artery disease caused by her smoking and drinking. I took care of her the last 9 months of her life. Even though it was killing her, she kept smoking and drinking. The day she died she was sneaking smokes out back and had booze in her coffee. She died of heart failure in May.