Everyone knew she drank. I mean, we all talked about it. My daughter tried to talk her out of drinking, all her friends tried to convince her. I spoke to her mom about it, but I never talked to her. I thought, she will think it’s none of my business and just laugh it off. If she won’t listen to kids her age, she sure doesn’t want to hear it from me. Last month my sister called and Beth had been in an accident. She was in the hospital in critical condition. She was drunk and drove her car into a wall. I wonder what would have happened if I would have had that talk. Where would she be today? That’s hard to think about.
Yes, I did have many conversations with my daughter after this and with my son. They actually learned a lot from this and I do believe this communication helped my son to see the consequences. I think he thinks about the consequences of drinking because of our talks. Perhaps what happened with my niece was not without a light at the end.
--- Robyn Allen, Phoenix