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Hi, my name is Beth, and I'm an alcoholic.

And thank you so much for asking me to come out and share a piece in my story.

It's a really big deal for me.

I'm an alcoholic, and I started drinking at a very young age.

And I grew up in a home where there wasn't a whole lot of personal connection.

I wasn't close with either of my parents.

I wasn't close really with either of my brothers.

The only emotional connection I had when I was growing up was my grandfather,

who I saw two weeks a year in the summer,

and they would come up from Florida.

And I remember just being able to be with him,

just being able to sit in his presence, just me and him.

And it was the only comfortable time I ever experienced as a small kid.

I, my story includes a lot of animals and I bring them up today because it's again taking a huge role in my life.

My parents bred and showed dogs and so as I started to get you know five six years old I started

to show the puppies and train the puppies and work with the puppies and and so when the I got a

little bit older I started showing them at dog shows and we had really good dogs and we won a lot. So I assumed it was, you know, all about me.

And I would show dogs and we would go to dinners and kennel club meetings and they would have

gatherings and, you know know lots of social affairs where

...