The bottle was tucked away in the cupboard above the refrigerator, back behind the crock pot and cookbooks. It was a gift to my husband two or three Christmases ago, opened only a couple of times as Dean only has an occasional drink, and my tolerance of alcohol is generally, at max, a glass of wine.
It was a quiet Sunday afternoon and I had decided to give my sister a call to chat while Micah watched a movie of his choice on the couch. I walked to the sun-room as I called her and was happily catching up with her when I turned to glance back towards the couch and noticed that Micah was not there. A couple steps back towards the doorway brought him into full view, but instead of pilfering snacks as I suspected, he was standing below the upper cupboard, with the door open , literally chugging down the contents of a whiskey bottle. My poor sister’s ears may never recover from me shouting at Micah to stop as I raced to grab the bottle from him. Quicker than me, he had already put the top on and headed into his room. I stood holding the now almost half empty bottle while I explained to Joyce in real time Micah’s most current escapade.
When I hung up, I located Dean and asked him if he knew how much of the whiskey had been consumed and he said maybe a couple of drinks worth. We both basically stared in disbelief at how much Micah must have consumed, but the evidence seemed clear that this was not his first time of partaking as he knew just what he wanted and that he needed to make a bee- line for it when I was not looking. When I told Dean I was going to take Micah for a walk, he asked if I really thought that was a good idea given how much whisky he had consumed, but I needed to get him and me out of the house to give us all space. The walk calmed me down and allowed me to observe Micah only to note that he showed absolutely no signs of intoxication, despite the fact that what I saw him drink would have impacted most people fairly quickly.
Needless to say ( but I will say it for fear that you think I am a totally clueless/careless parent), the whiskey bottle and the other bottles of alcohol that used to reside in that upper cupboard have been relocated, and Dean is actually the only person who knows where they now hide. But I have been pondering about Micah’s quest to find the bottle and the fact that at one point he decided to try the contents. I fully realize that many 28 year old men have a taste for whiskey and choose to drink it with friends or at a gathering as a normal socialization activity. I just had no idea that Micah even knew the bottle existed or that he had decided to open it. However, I do know that a number of his current medications should not be mixed with alcohol, therefore it has never been offered to him. Had he noticed that he was never offered an alcoholic drink? Did or does that bother him? I do recall when he was very little, he would occasionally drain the contents of a glass of wine that his father or I had left on the table, so we learned to be careful to hold onto our glass until we finished our drink, but that phase passed years ago. I am fairly certain we can safely leave a glass of wine on the counter for days as, like soda, he does not seem to like the taste of wine anymore. But whiskey is clearly another story, and because Micah has eyes like an eagle’s, those of us who have the role on earth to protect him, will need to be hyper- vigilant when whiskey is anywhere in his range if we are to keep him safe from his chosen beverage in the future.
Jan Lessard Peightell January 16, 2022