The Potential Robber:Alcoholism

George, Elle & me- Elle had been ill and was drained.

Elle was sick for months before she was able to do much to take care of her own baby. Her nother-in-law Anna was reluctant to bring the baby upstairs so Elle could even see her as Anna feared exposing the baby to sickness. “I don’t want the baby up there where she is sick” Anna would tell her son George even though the doctor confirmed Elle’s illness was not contagious.

One day when they doctor came to see Elle (house visit) she begged him to let her go home to their own apartment. He agreed as long as she limited her activities and George would be willing to take care of housework. When they left his mothers they were in a nice apartment and for awhile George was a fantastic husband. He cared for Elle when he could be home just as the doctor had advised while working at the steel mill during the day.

It was not too long that they began going downhill financially and moving from one bad apartment to another. George kept changing his mind about his career and started spending his money in the beer saloons. Why George began drinking heavily is a mystery but there is no doubt he fell into the abyss of alcoholism which controlled him the remainder of his life.

George was a sensitive man and gifted artist and was happiest when he could draw or paint...but he was working at a steel mill. He started asking Elle when she would go back to work but she figured it would only make him worse, enabling him to have more money to spend at the bars. His main interest everyday became getting out to the beer saloon. He would go straight from work with his paycheck and announce “Drinks for everybody!”  George often came home with very little money left from his paycheck. Tired of moving from place to place while trying to stay home with her baby, Elle finally asked her aunt to watch the baby and she took a job in the office at the steel mill. George’s drinking only worsened so Elle eventually got an apartment for the baby and herself and continued working while her Aunt watched her little daughter.