Tom M., Author at Adult Children of Alcoholics & Dysfunctional Families

Things I Have Learned In Childhood And Adulthood

by Tom M. | Jun 1, 2023 | ComLine, Voices of Recovery

Things I Learned as a Child and Young Adult (from my parents, schools, and church): No one at home has the right to be angry – except daddy-Monster. All authority figures are monsters and must be feared. They are always right and I am always wrong. God loves me and...

True Teacher

by Tom M. | May 15, 2023 | ComLine, Voices of Recovery

(A short letter/poem to the one teacher who made a difference for me, who revealed my competence to me.)Dear seventh-grade math teacher, you had no idea – the family violence endured by one of your students. I was a C/D student before your...

The Package

by Tom M. | May 15, 2023 | ACA And The Arts, ComLine

THE PACKAGE(A short poem about my struggle to face the ugly truth about family dysfunction.) A package appears on my desk,addressed to me.It’s from my parents.I see the label: Family Secrets. I know the rules:do not open under any circumstance.But the package calls to...

There’s No Place Like No Peace At Home

by Tom M. | Apr 15, 2023 | ACA And The Arts

My first memory of daddy-Monster: I’m three years old; he beats me as I lie in bed. There’s no place like screaming myself to sleep. Daddy-Monster locks me in the scary basement when I’m four or five. There’s no place like knowing I’m safer behind a...

Alien Invader

by Tom M. | Apr 1, 2023 | Voices of Recovery

Twenty-four years old: Someone treats me with contempt. Someone views me as worthless. Someone disrespects me. A bureaucrat treats me as an object – a thing to be discarded. Anger churns within. Without thinking, I retaliate. A...