Dead or Alive

Dead or Alive(Aaron Schreur) Dead or Alive
By: Aaron Schreur


I was downstairs playing Xbox during a Christmas Eve party, when I heard a loud crash! Then almost simultaneously to the crash, I heard yelling, but above it all I could hear my mom screaming for help! I sprinted up the steps taking 3 at a time to see what was wrong. When I got to the middle floor I could see my Grandpa lying outside through the opened front door, and my Grandma standing on the driveway cackling like an old witch! Oh god it’s happening again, I thought to myself. Let’s rewind a little since you are probably confused.

We were having a Christmas Eve party at our house for our relatives. My Grandma is an alcoholic, and can never contain herself around alcohol. She wouldn’t stop drinking at the party. She was already very drunk, and the party had barely even started but that didn’t stop her. Oh no, she wasn’t even close to being done. She prefers wine, so when my mom was walking through the front door with a wine for my aunt, my Grandma didn’t waste any time in stumbling over, snatching the wine, and stumbling away with wine sloshing over the sides of the cup onto our expensive rug.

Now that you’re caught up on the events I will fast forward to when my Grandma was cackling like a witch! My mom was supporting my Grandpa, so that he could be in a sitting position. I rushed over, and held my Grandpa up so my mom could relieve the stress from her back. I feel kind of sorry for my Grandma, because she didn’t realize that my mom was about to scold her. Then my Grandma told my Grandpa to stop being a klutz, and get in the car. That tipped my mom over the edge and I winced in sympathy for my Grandma when I saw the fires burning in my mom’s eyes.

My mom then proceeded to begin yelling at my Grandma that she was an idiot and an alcoholic. My Grandma’s reaction to my mom’s yelling was to wheel about and begin a long walk up to Monroe. Monroe is an hour long drive. I looked back through the doorway where my brothers and sister were standing and I burst out laughing because they were all unsuccessfully trying not to laugh. Eventually, we found her walking along Lahser Road.

I have never understood why people drink so much. I’ve heard some people do to get away from problems in their life. All drinking does is create more problems in your life in exchange for a brief reprieve from your life. Once again I ask myself, “Why do people drink just to get drunk?” I doubt I will ever understand why.