[ADeepSandbox]

Hi, I am the daughter of an alcoholic. I have been estranged from him since I was 16. My parents divorced when I was 6. Lately I have started a journey to recover from depression and other issues, and I am reflecting and writing about my past as part of that.

I now know that my dad was an alcoholic, but he hid his drinking from me (before I was born, he didn't hide it.) I found out about his alcoholism when I was 15 and a classmate who knew him told me she had seen him very drunk in public at a local event. I was stunned. He had never drank around me.

My mom had hidden his alcoholism from me (in that she never told me) but when I confronted her, she told me everything. Now I look at the time I spent with him and the hurtful things he did to me (not physical) and cannot help but wonder how his drinking played into it all.

I was wondering if anyone else had a parent hide their alcohol problems? I only saw him on occasional weekends for the most part so it wasn't hard for him to hide it, but also I was very sheltered and simply may not have realized he was drunk. I was so trusting and innocent.

[ADeepSandbox]

Forgot to add, he got a DUI a few years later. I was so humiliated. I live in a small town and everyone knows everyone. Today I cringe any time anyone connects me to him because I have no idea how he behaved around that person. He took money from a lot of people and slept around a lot. I never know whether someone will hate me because of him.