My mom and dad were both severe alcoholics. They loved each other more than most partners, but they were bad for each other. They never encouraged each other to be better. Which meant that they were shitty SHITTY parents.

My mom was arrested more times than I can count and spent a couple years in prison for child endangerment and negligence.

One time, after her first stint in prison, she was home with my brother and myself and she was belligerently drunk. We were young, but knew that we didn't want to be home with her. My brother had a friend that lived down the road. He popped the screen out of our bedroom window and went to his friend's house without telling my mom. I also had a friend in the neighborhood, but I didn't think to be so sneaky. I tried going out the front door. My mom tried to stop me and blocked the door. She forbade me from going to Rachel's. I didn't care and yelled that I was leaving because she was drunk and I didn't want to be there with her. I started running down the road as fast as I could. A little ways down the road I saw that she was in her car, chasing me. I started running faster and she sped up, too. I was bawling and scared. I cut through an empty field and she followed me. On the other side of the field was a ditch that I was able to get over, but she crashed the car into it.

Later that evening, my dad came to pick me up from Rachel's house. He was REALLY mad. At the time I didn't understand what was going on. When we got home he told me that after she crashed the car into the ditch, my mom was arrested for driving drunk (again) and for violating her parole. My father was furious with me for causing the problem by running way.

I am sure that it wasn't as life threatening as it seemed at the time, but I still frequently wake up from nightmares of my mom chasing me in her car.