By Jessica LaheyOriginal Source: washingtonpost.com

I got sober nearly eight years ago, after about a decade of very well-camouflaged alcoholism. My husband and two sons may have been unaware of what I was up to when their backs were turned, but without their knowledge or consent, I’d forced them to participate in my lies, obfuscation and evasion. Worse, I’d replicated the part of my childhood I hated most, the parts where my sister and I were not allowed to talk about the alcoholism that took up so much space in our small childhood home, not even as our resentment over its outsize role increased.

I realized early on that to stay sober and keep my sons from repeating my mistakes in their own families, I’d have to banish secrets and shame from our home and establish a...click here to continue reading