Eileen's Story (https://www.alz.org/living_with_alzheimers_10304.aspLinks to an external site.) I am 55 years old and have been married for 32 years. We have two wonderful grown daughters and a beautiful 4-year-old grandson. I grew up in an Irish Catholic family with seven brothers and sisters. My mother was an alcoholic. She was very abusive, and my dad did the best he could to protect us. She passed away when she was 55. I started drinking and doing drugs at 11. I was severely addicted and took over 100 pills a day along with the drinking. I brought my husband and daughters into the same hell I grew up in; the only difference was I loved my girls so much I could not abuse them, so all the abuse was toward myself. I went to rehab at age 35, when my girls were 9 and 7. It has been 19 years in Alcoholics Anonymous, and it has been rough. As a family, we have worked together in counseling to try to mend the issues from my alcoholism and drug addiction. We are very close and love one another intensely. I did suffer brain damage, but I also was blessed with a wonderful job