Dad has drank for as long as I can remember and he would probably have always been described as a heavy drinker.

I can’t recall a time where it all changed it was simply one day there was control and the next there wasn’t.

A bit of background is I like to call us a nice, normal family – yes we have our issues and we’ve been through some things but as families go ours is pretty boring. We see eachother at family get togethers and Christmas and anyone from the outside looking in would probably say we had no issues at all…

Dad grew up working in finance and there was a big drinking culture back then – they’d typically go out on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening and drinking well into the early hours of the morning.

Looking back now I think dad probably saw having a drink as a way of finishing off his day. For as long as I can remember he’d come home have a drink, get in the shower and then chill for the evening having a few cans of cider.

I remember the first time I was suspicious of dad drinking early in the day. It was a Saturday we were due to visit my grandparents, he’d gone for a shower about 10:30am before we were due to leave. The shower was running and as I walked past I heard the distinct sound of a can opening. I knew instantly what it was, I was about 12 years old and that sound was ingrained into my mind. I immediately told my mum who managed to interject and stop him from drinking it, his excuse ‘he didn’t feel well and thought it would brighten him up’. Now as a 28 year old I realise how stupid that really does sound but at 12 years old you don’t want to believe certain things about your parents. Anyway life went on that was one instance and we moved on from it and put it behind us…