My Father's AA

Friends of my parents had a pool and they'd throw wild parties. My sisters, the other kids, and I would swim while the parents drank. We knew they were all drunk when the singing started. My mother would get out her accordion and wake up my father, who was usually passed out, and they would do their famous duet of the Titanic song, a cheerful little ditty about disaster. "Husband and wives, little children lost their lives..." with everyone joining in on the chorus of, "It was sad...." The song kind of summed up our family life. We were sinking fast.