I Drank Alcohol Before I Was 18

I have seen members of my own family flush the best part of their life down the toilet and not listen to anyone who tried to tell them to go easy on it because they always argued that alcohol use is a matter of taste or fashion, and everyone has the right to their own lifestyle preferencs. My parents split when I was about 5, due largely to my father's drinking as far as I can tell. For about the next 12 years he came to pick me up on Sunday and whatever else we did together on that day he always had a little drink first. He opted out of parenting altogether when I was about 16 or 17 and without a word of explanation he just stopped coming for me. I felt hurt by his sudden abandonment but did not dare tell my mother how I felt because their separation was none too amicable and she would not have wanted to hear that I missed my father. For the next 5 years I tried to not think about him until at the age of about 22 after I had started working and had a bit of money of my own I decided to pay him an unexpected visit. I could see for myself that the little drink had gotten bigger and there was less of anything else. I could also see that my older brother living in the same house who started drinking at age 13 was showing signs of extreme wear and tear at age 29. When I started a family I bought a house nearby so that I could take his grandchildren to see him at weekends but they didn't really want to go because he was nearly always drunk or getting that way. Even if I took them to see him at 10:00 am on Sunday morning he would be drinking and I didn't trust him to balance the kids on his knee. My father finally died at the age of 77. The last time I saw my brother was about 2 years after this. He came to see me and suggested we buy a place together but I knew how much he drank and I figured he merely wanted someone to put meals in front of him and clean up after him the way our father had done so I politely declined his offer saying that our lifestyles were too different (which was actually true) without saying that he had become an alcoholic and was unable to look after himself. Not long afterwards I found out that his emaciated body had turned up in local hotel where he had been paying for the full service. He had a number of medcal conditions exacerbated by his 'lifestyle' because I don't think he ate very well when he was drinking and even if he did remember to eat, alcohol interferes with medication, a fact which he simply ignored. He was 54 years old when he died and I have known men of 90 who appeared to be in better condition. I had a spiritual experience when I was about 20 years old and someone opened up the New Testament to me. When I told them my father said I was 'brainwashed' and my brother thought I believed 'fairy stories'. Losing them was hard but losing their respect was even harder. This experience taught me the damage that alcohol can easily do to your body and today I prefer to avoid it. I can count the number of alcoholic beverages I consume in a year [i]on one hand[/i] without using every finger. My father and brother died thinking I was a fool, but I know my redeemer lives.