31 ~ Weekend Visitors

By Kay Heitsch

It was interesting living so close to Cedar Point Amusement Park. We went out to the park every so often.

Several people told me I appeared in a print ad, dancing with a staff member. I never saw it myself, but I do remember dancing with someone from the park.

The traffic was bad, but there were back streets we could always take to avoid it. I liked living there, and I enjoyed being where the action was.

We had quite a lot of visitors. One of my mom's sisters, husband, grandson, and friend came one weekend. I had heard my aunt's husband had a drinking problem, but I didn't know how bad it was.

We had Blue Laws in the area. That being said, you could not buy alcohol on Sunday. We didn't have any alcohol in the townhouse, and this uncle needed it badly.

I can relate in a way to his withdrawal after going through what I did with the cigarettes. He was really feeling bad! However, after being able to buy alcohol on Monday, he was okay.

I was used to being around people drinking my whole life. My dad drank a lot, but I do not think he was addicted like this uncle. Dad didn't drink in the house. He was a social type drinker and liked to hit the bars around town and elsewhere.

God knew a time was coming when I was going to start to abuse alcohol. Watching this uncle, God was teaching me a lesson. As I started down this road, God reminded me of this situation.

I stopped cold turkey, like with the cigarettes. I do have a drink occasionally if we're out with friends. However, I have never smoked again after I quit.

I wasn't addicted to alcohol like I was to cigarettes. I was only addicted to the habit. I found that habits are a lot easier to break than addiction.

"Write down for the coming generation what the Lord has done, so that people not yet born will praise Him." Psalm 102:18