The Best Thing that Ever Happened to Me

My father, an electrician, worked days and my mother worked nights as a waitress. When my sisters and I were growing up, we thought our father lived in the basement because that's where he spent most of his time. My dad really liked beer and there was always a lot of it in our fridge. He would be down there in the basement drinking and meanwhile, even at a young age, I'd be upstairs sneaking his beers. When I was finished with a beer, I would put the empty by his chair so he would think that he drank it. He never suspected that I was getting pretty drunk up there. I can remember stumbling around the house at the age of eight.