My Memories of Addiction

My first memories of addiction were watching my grandparents smoke.  They had terrible coughs that ended up being emphysema as years progressed.  I remember my mother begging my grandmother to stop smoking.  Smoking was a common part of culture in the 50’s and 60’s especially since they were in the military.  I remember going to my grandparents house and playing games at the kitchen table.  My throat would be so sore after sitting around the smoke filled room for hours.  My throat would feel like sandpaper rough and dry.  I remember my grandfather eventually needing an oxygen machine.  He would sit at the kitchen table breathing through his mask and remove it at times for a smoke.  My grandmother eventually quite smoking after her husband died.  She always had a terrible cough from the damage that was already done to her lungs.

Electronics are a whole new addiction.  We become so attached to our phones we feel vibrations in our pocket even when the phone  is not vibrating.  We check our phones regularly to see how many likes, winks, and tweets our posts have gotten.   We judge our popularity on how people respond to our posts.  We can even feel sad because others lives look so exciting.

Food addictions are difficult to hide unlike many other addictions.  If we are obese everyone sees it.   People can be quick to judge others by their size.  It is sad because there are many other addictions that are hidden in our closets yet just as destructive.

Alcohol has plagued many people throughout the generations and our family is no exception.  What happens in ones life can change forever while under the influence of alcohol.  It can ruin relationships, destroy our ability to keep a job and fogs our vision.  When I was a young girl we lived in Fort Bragg California.  My father worked for the local lumber company in the town.  They had a company home called The Guest House which is now a museum.  We lived in the home when we first moved to Fort Bragg.  Business guests that came into town would stay at the house.  There was a small room that was a bar.  I remember watching peoples behavior as they drank.  My experience as a child observing others as they drank and smoke had a huge impact on me.  I decided to never smoke or drink alcohol and still to this day haven’t.

On a side note if you travel to the California and the redwood forests head to Mendocino and Fort Bragg they’re so beautiful.  Here is the home I lived in which is now a museum you can tour.

Guest House Museum

A little information on The Guest House.

More than 25 years ago, the State of California declared that the Guest House Museum in Downtown Fort Bragg a point of historical interest.

It was built mostly from coastal redwood in 1892 for Tom Johnson, a family business partner in Fort Bragg Redwood Company, as his private residence. All wood used in the structure was milled by Fort Bragg Redwood Company.

Before the house was finished and by direction of the company’s founder, Charles Russell Johnson, it became the lumber company’s home for senior officials and VIP guest visitors to the Fort Bragg mill and logging sites.

Fort Bragg Redwood Company became Union Lumber Company in 1905 and the Guest House continued in its role until ULCo sold to Boise-Cascade Corporation, and later still to Georgia-Pacific Corp. G-P donated the home to the City of Fort Bragg on closing their Fort Bragg plant in the 1990s.

 

 

 

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