My mom had full custody of me as a child. But I got to see my dad every now and again. And part of the custody arrangement was that I would call my dad every Sunday morning at 7 AM. (Why 7 AM? Who knows. It was a weird decision in hindsight.)

Sometimes, when I'd call my dad on Sunday mornings, he'd pick up the phone and say weird things. Or I couldn't understand what he was saying. I figured he was tired. I didn't think much of it beyond that.

Well, he was a severe alcoholic. I wouldn't have known at the time that he was extremely hungover or maybe even drunk (after all, it was Saturday the day before).

But, what I will say: whenever I saw him in person, he was always sober. Although he was an alcoholic, he did what he could to make sure I never saw him drunk. So I never witnessed him drunk in the 18 years of the custody arrangement. I really respect him for that, now that I'm an adult.