[This blog has emotional content related to the loss of life and does contain links to my content on Quora.com where I may receive a small commission if anyone subscribes.]
My mother made me smoke a pack of cigarettes when I was twelve years old because she caught me smoking. She said she made me do it in hope that if it made me sick that I wouldn’t want to smoke (It didn’t work. I smoked for 42-years before I quit). The following article made me think of that and helped me to understand the thinking of this grandmother who forced her four-year old granddaughter to drink a half of a bottle of alcohol that robbed the precious child of her life.
Child Dies After Grandma Forces Her to Drink Whiskey as Mom Watches: Police
Fatma Khaled – Newsweek
Just as I know my mother made me smoke those cigarettes in hope that I’d get sick and decide not to smoke, I suspect that this grandmother and her daughter were drunk, and maybe problem drinkers or alcoholics, who didn’t want the little girl to grow up to be the same.
In the photo posted with Santa, I am one of the three children, the only one still alive. Addiction killed one of my brothers and the other died from health issues.
I reposted Could Be Me, last year because of my personal connection to addiction issues and know from experience about the heavy toll addiction takes on the lives of addicts and those near them, sometimes with devastating effects. Because of that, I sympathize with the grandmother and the child’s mother, neither of whom I feel had any idea that their actions were going to result in the loss of the precious child’s life.
One of my friends has a four-year old child. I cannot imagine how it would feel to loose someone so precious and special, as I am sure the little girl was who lost her life because of the actions of those who were supposed to be her loved ones.
Another Child Dies Close to Home
Earlier this month in Paulding County, Georgia, a four-week old baby died because of alcohol poisoning that resulted in the parents being charged with murder. Parents Charged With Murder After 4-Week-Old Baby Dies of Alcohol Poisoning (newsweek.com)
Addiction Kills
Both of these child deaths are horrific events that illustrate the severe problem that some people have with alcohol and drug addiction. The sad part is that most will never change and will die as a result of their disease/illness/behavior.
I feel blessed and very fortunate for God giving me the strength to change my life before worse things happened as a result of my addiction problems. I did spend most of my life in prison, as I often write about on here and on Quora.com about my Life Inside and Out, but I have lived to fight another day, something that many addicts will not have because their addiction or associated behaviors will result in their deaths, just as it did my brother. 🙁
If anyone is searching for answers or suggestions related to alcoholism and addiction, some answers may be found at In and Out of the Rooms on Quora.com
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