More About the First Year

The first year of my marriage also inluded me getting closer to my mother and father in law. I really liked them both a lot. My mother-in-law could be a bit hateful to people but I did get along with her.
I also had a great relationship with my brother-in-law who was 5 years younger than Jerry and his name was Terry. We became like a brother and sister.

Sadly Terry had a drinking problem too but had stopped for a while. But eventually he began drinking again and him and Jerry spent a lot of time drunk together.

During our first year of marriage Jerry and I did join a bowling league which was a lot of fun. We spent a lot of time bowling actually. Jerry was a good bowler except when he got drunk. I always hoped that he would just drink a few beers each night we went bowling but he would drink many beers and  get trashed. Everything we did usually ended up with him trashed. Terry bowled with us sometimes too which was fun.

Jerry's dad had hardening of the arteries and had been ill for years. I started taking care of him durin the day while Jerry's mom worked. I got to know him very well and he told me many times that he wished so much that Jerry would stop drinking. He would cry over it. Jerry's mom, Lois was also not very nice to him much of the time. I know he felt like a burden to her because he told me many times that he wished he was not a burden.

One night in September, Paul Miller took his own life. He had been in very bad shape and most likely would not have lived the night but he was tired and he was done. It was a very hard time for everyone. Jerry and Terry had been getting wood and off getting drunk when it happened. Terry's wife Monica found them and told them what had happened to their dad, they came over to the house and we all were together there for the night.

I was heartbroken and of course so was the entire family. What was even harder for me was that I had been considering leaving Jerry because I was so tired of how he treated me and of the drinking. I also had discovered that he was smoking pot and possibly doing other drugs too. But I could not leave Jerry after his dad killed himself.  I felt sorry for him and hoped that somehow maybe this would stop him from drinking, maybe he would change. I was wrong....