A reader who can’t remember their parents having an alcohol-free day wants to help them to be healthier. Mariella Frostrup suggests looking at the reasons they are compelled to drinkThe dilemma I have become increasingly concerned with my parents’ drinking habits. I have seen them polish off two bottles of wine at lunch and then more at dinner. They do not get “drunk”,just tipsy and loud, but I don’t savor their company as much when they are like this. It is the dependency that bothers me most. I have never once seen them have an alcohol-free day. I know I arrive from a different generation, and maybe this is just how people are in their 50s. I care for my parents and I want them to be around for at least 20 more years. I also want them to be happy. And I don’t contemplate alcohol makes you happy. It can be fun,but ultimately I contemplate it is a way to conceal from your pain. What should I do?Mariella replies Write to them? After all, you’ve put your case so eloquently, and making me feel more than a small ashamed myself for my own outmoded debaucheries. Truly Im glugging back a glass of water as I write.
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Source: theguardian.com