A toast to drinking responsibly

Hi, my name is Catherine, and I'm the child of an alcoholic.

Want a buzz kill before heading out tonight? December is National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month. If you've been wondering, "What the heck did Reagan ever do?" this is it. Beginning in 1982, this program reminds us that designating a driver while getting your drink on, in December and throughout the year, is of utmost importance.

Alcohol and I go way back.

My biological father liked to drink. Clean and sober now for more than 20 years, his relationship with beer and liquor was once so strong it effectively ruined ours. Combine this with my full-blooded Irish heritage and you can understand why Mom introduced me to Adult Children of Alcoholics information and literature early on. I learned to look for signs to avoid becoming an alcoholic or, the fate of so many daughters, marrying one. Throughout my college years, I tried not to overdo it or drink for the wrong reasons. I'd even designate certain weekends "dry." Friends always found it amusing when I played drinking games with soda instead of beer.

I fell in love with and married a man who shared no physical or emotional characteristics with Bio Dad. Husband is stocky, secure, hard-working, and never developed a taste for booze. He's sharp and funny enough without it.

I had moments of excess when I was young, but graduated to adulthood with little or no issues. Since then, I've been drunk exactly twice — once at my 10-year high school reunion and the other at a holiday party when I realized we were stuck in Colorado Springs for a year.

Can you blame me for either one?

I joke about happy hour and wine as coping skills, and see nothing wrong with a few drinks on the weekends, but I am notoriously uncomfortable around drunks. I often remind my children that in addition to sarcastic wit and back hair, they also inherit the threat of alcoholism. They will guard against this disease for the rest of their lives.

"Be wary of booze," I tell them, "and pastrami sandwiches."

Oh, the burden of the Irish-American Jew.

Perhaps it is this personal history with The Drink that makes me so aware of driving while impaired. I'm constantly on alert when we're out on weekends or late at night. A real concern, considering 41 percent of all traffic crashes are alcohol-related and, in 2002, 22 percent of the 2,197 traffic fatalities among children ages 0 to 14 years involved alcohol (NHTSA 2003c).

What can we do?

• Designate a driver. If you're not fortunate enough to be married to a teetotaler, take turns with a friend. Many bars provide designated drivers with soda or water, and free alcohol breath tests if you're alone.
  • Be aware. The amount of alcohol in your blood reaches its highest level about 60 minutes after drinking. Buy breath alcohol devices for you or whoever might need them.
    • Report drunk drivers. Dial 911 or *347 right away if you see something suspicious.

      By all means, have a few. Then stop. And let someone else drive.