The Lois Wilson Story by William G Borchert

Author:William G Borchert
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Hazelden Publishing
Published: 2009-05-25T16:00:00+00:00

11

Nightmare on Clinton Street

IT WAS THE WEEK BEFORE THANKSGIVING, 1935. CLARK BURNHAM had been in Vermont for some months selling his beloved cottage and the surrounding property on Emerald Lake, a sad and painful event for him and his entire family, who had so many happy memories of growing up there. But retired now and with little income, he and his wife needed the funds to support themselves. Upon getting word that his son-in-law was back from Akron and filling the Clinton Street house with a swarm of his drinking buddies, the good doctor decided to pay his daughter a visit upon his return to the city. Yes, he had promised himself he wouldn’t interfere in their lives, but these ghastly rumors had to be looked into.1

Lois was in the kitchen making another large pot of coffee when she heard the doorbell. Drying her hands on her apron, she pushed her hair back from her forehead and headed down the hall to the front door. She was taken aback to see her father standing there. Dr. Burnham was also taken aback to see his daughter in a stained apron, her hair awry, and perspiration covering her weary face. He hadn’t seen his oldest and dearest daughter looking this way since the time her husband returned drunk and broke from his failed excursion to Montreal. So Dr. Burnham stood with his mouth hanging open until Lois collected herself, grabbed him by the hand, and ushered him inside.

The good doctor couldn’t believe his eyes as he glanced around at what he would later describe as “the alcoholic ward at Bellevue Hospital.” He spotted two drunks shaking it off in the living room, two other fairly sober gents playing checkers in the dining room, and another staggering slowly down the front hall stairs. Ebby Thacher was chatting with another half-sober individual over a cup of coffee in the kitchen.

As Lois recalled, her stunned father leaned close and whispered quite loudly: “Tell me . . . what in God’s name is going on here?”2

Knowing they couldn’t have a private conversation in the kitchen, she led him out into the small yard behind the house. But before she could begin explaining, her father demanded to know why she was apparently nursing a house full of inebriates. Hadn’t she gone through enough with her own husband? Had she, too, lost her mind? He had warned her what could happen if she stayed with Bill.

Lois waited until her father ran out of breath and was now only huffing and puffing. She had tried to remain calm as she fidgeted in the cool autumn air.

“I still love him very much, Father,” she remembered saying.3 Then she took his hand again and tried to briefly detail what had happened to Bill during his trip to Akron, how he finally found a way to stay sober and help others at the same time. That while he wanted to get back on Wall Street if he could, his life was now mainly about working with alcoholics to help them find permanent sobriety.

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