Did my mom feel alone, as if she were blamed for what happened to her? Like nobody could understand what she was dealing with?

Legend has it that on an early date, my mom was drinking Southern Comfort whiskey from the bottle. My dad made a passing joke that she wasn’t classy, and — being the stubborn person she was — my mom said she was getting out of his car.

“Fine, I’ll leave you here!” my dad said.

My mom got out onto the sidewalk, and my dad — being the stubborn person he is — drove away.

When my mom died, I made a list of things that made me similar to her: My favorite color was purple, I liked to write, I loved reading, I adored cats, I didn’t wear makeup, my favorite soda was Pepsi, I lived in oversized sweaters. I was 11, so I didn’t add “I love to drink” to the list, but it crosses my mind now whenever I’m at a bar with friends, and I decide to order a cocktail.

If I re-wrote the list now, would I put “loves to drink” as one of the things my mom and I have in common? Did I inherit my love of drinking from her the way I inherited my physical disability, which causes poor balance, difficulty walking, and an inability to tolerate the cold? Is it as much a part of where I come from as my love of cats, or my affinity for pizza?

Full detail: https://www.trendiee.com/confessions/mom-died-drinking-made-feel-closer/