From what I've been told, Greg spent a lot of time by himself. He was never very social, which was fine until Hailey wanted something from him. I don't have much memory of the time spent with him until I was about 6 or 7, when I could tend to myself and didn't need help reaching for a glass of water. My mother on the other hand, realized she had a choice. When I was about 2, I was already testing my boundaries with her, showing signs of independence and challenging the relationship. Before things got any worse, she decided to allow my grandparents to adopt me, 'graciously' she likes to say. It doesn't hurt, thinking about this fact. I was too young to process this, and was told that Hailey was moving to Virginia. I unattached from her quickly, even reverting to calling her by her first name. I enjoyed the relationship I had with my grandparents, they loved me and took care of me. Unfortunately my grandfather, or bumpa as I called him, was recovering from cancer. He spent most of his days drinking, Nana often drinking just as much as him. She was very open about her drinking, having no problem pouring her vodka in whatever drink she had for the evening. Bumpa on the other hand, hid bottles all over the house. She would send me on little 'missions' to find them all. This was what worried her about his drinking, that he had a created a dependency on alcohol.
I remember them fighting a lot, but never mistreating me. I did have a scare once with my grandmother when living with her. Nana and I had come back from my childhood friend's house, she was intoxicated and extremely tired. Though I didn't understand it then, she was impaired enough to nearly run the vehicle into the side of the house. This was never something I considered a traumatic event, more like a realization in time. The only fear I had from this was losing my family to alcohol.
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