Under the Influence

When I read Under the Influence by Russell Sanders the bottles kept standing out to me. My mother had a drinking problem when I was real young. Reading the text brought me back to my childhood because I experienced the same as Russell Sanders. My Mother would drink bottle after bottle and then pass out on the couch.

One day I was playing out in the yard and stabbed my hand against a cactus. I started running for my Mother and was stopped by a locked door. My Mother was passed out from beer in bottles. It seemed like the bottles were causing my Mother and I not to have a relationship. If you decide to have a kid you have to accept the responsibility.

My Mother and Russell Sanders' Father felt sorry for themselves and answered it by drinking. The one thing I learned about my Mother was put your kids first and selfish acts later. I realized having no Mother made me stronger and motivated me more to parent my kids.