With hearty snipping:
I think DM would be right to be distressed at the paper’s portraits of him as a millionaire to the manor born. His family history suggests a much more humble lifestyle.
In CM’s obit, WM wrote “Carl and Dell formed Millard Auto Aero Marine Ltd. in 1946, and over the next 15 years were Canadian distributors for Steelcraft Boats, Beech Aircraft, Fleet Aircraft and Bellanca Aircraft. The office headquarters was the little sunroom at the back of the tiny bungalow at 127 St. Clements Avenue”.
http://v1.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/Deaths.20061125.93074074/BDAStory/BDA/deaths
Tiny? Tiny! CM would have lived at this micro-address at least until WM was 20 and doing a year of college. The faux timber-framed Tudor bungalow is cute as a bug, but hard to imagine as a family home:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.7118...!1e1!3m2!1sepK0R5sYCWXWOCTaLPpmkw!2e0!6m1!1e1
Also from the obit, CM did not have a heck of a lot of education. Grade 8, in fact, like Carli’s relative
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...na-Noudga-Accessory-3&p=11603270#post11603270 and just like Carli’s relative, achieving that was a challenge:
The man that reared WM was a real simple guy, but by reports hard and driven. WM was in turn a passive personality to CM’s dominance, a cheerleader and CM’s number one fan: he paid $30k to eulogize him in the Globe
https://books.google.ca/books?id=6c...epage&q=obituary carl millard $30,000&f=false
WM’s career seemed to downtrend. He started at the top, with Air Canada at 25…but by 37 he was working for a small, financially unstable discount carrier, and by 42 he was back where he started in his 20’s, working for his father CM again. DM (Sr) died, WM inherited (ABro), and WM immediately made a kid. Within 7 years the family business was in bankruptcy. DM would have been 5, and there is no work history known for WM after that, and WM’s marriage failed.
DM might have grown up not ever knowing WM as a man with a job.
DM did know WM as a man with a drink, though.
Here IMO we have a long slow trauma unfolding day after day for years. When you counsel an alcoholic, there are two challenges. One is the physical addiction: the hijacked dopamine system of the addict, the state of the user when under the influence, and the drive to use.
The other part is the social/relationship tragedy: drinking takes hours at a time. Sobering up takes hours more. How many missed appointment and events, late meals, and promises broken, when a parent’s priority is their addiction? ETA: And what of the thinking patterns of the alcoholic, the denial, the blaming, emotional lability? Poor thinking patterns are modeled by the parent for the child.
I invite you to explore Alateen, which is the Alcoholics Anonymous support group for teens of parents who drink.
http://al-anon.org/alateen-for-teens