I started experimenting with alcohol when I was 13. Unlike most teenagers who start with beer or wine, I went straight to the hard stuff: vodka. I’d sneak sips out of my mom’s alcohol cupboard, loving the woozy sensation after a couple of gulps.
When I was 14, my grandmother died. And the night before her funeral, I got drunk for the first time. I quickly understood that alcohol was an excellent anesthetic for the intense pain I was feeling.
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