Early Life Looked Good
It wasn’t all bad. Early life looked good. She remembers joyful summers of swing sets, dogs, riding her tricycle, playing in the pool, eating popsicles, and helping her mother put away groceries. Her favorite thing to do in the summer was eat popsicles in the pool with her sisters. They would be outside all day in the summer, quickly falling asleep at night from the exhaustion of the sun. And she remembers teasing the dogs and running up on the swing set so they couldn’t get her. Her giggle was so innocent, so sweet. They would take the dogs on walks while she road her tricycle along with them. Her father was becoming more successful and they started an add-on for their house. Unfortunately, it would never be finished.
They would have to move, again, and hear all the broken promises from her father. He was building them a custom house…it was just a little bit longer. They just needed to rent for a few more years. Really, he was too busy in his addiction. He was still able to hide it from his family as his ego got bigger and bigger and he became more confident that he could manage it. He had a history of alcoholism and addiction…in was in his blood. His grandfather passed from alcoholism when he was a child and he could never forget finding him that late September day. He came to the West Coast from New York, after burning all his bridges out there. He met her mother – a sweet mid-western girl that had never been exposed to the things he was about to expose her to. No one knew what they were walking into. No one could have known. What ensued was a spiral of arguments, pain, turmoil, pleading him to get sober, finding him passed out in motel rooms…but the kids didn’t know. Celeste just went to school, did her homework, played in the backyard with her sisters…and then they would walk in on the arguments. It was madness. The kids would sit at the top of the stairs listening but not truly understanding what was going on. Their dad was fun…he loved adventures…he’d play basketball with them…but he would also disappear for days on end.
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