As summer is in full swing, so are the parties and drinking. It is not only college students on break, but also high school students and even people in older generations. While on break, it is the time to let loose and take advantage of relaxing. But just because you are on break, it will never be the time to joke around and call yourself an alcoholic.

Many individuals believe that “alcoholism” is just when a person tends to drink often or enjoys to drink. But alcoholism is much more than going out to a bar on the weekends. The true definition of alcoholism is an addiction to the consumption of alcoholic liquor, or the mental illness and compulsive behavior resulting from alcohol dependency.

My father suffered from a drinking problem throughout his life, and sadly it continued throughout my childhood. I can thankfully say that my father was not an alcoholic who physically hurt anybody or put anyone's life in danger. There was not a time where I was scared of my father.

At that time I did not know what alcoholism was or that it was affecting my father everyday. As a child you truly do not understand how alcohol affects somebody's mental health and physical health so significantly. I just thought that he drank to relax or have fun with his friends. It was not until my father was diagnosed with cirrhosis that I started to learn about it all.

Cirrhosis of the liver is a common disease seen in alcoholics. The illness is chronic damage caused to the liver which leads to liver scarring and liver failure. The damage done to your liver can not be undone. Although there is treatment for cirrhosis, there is no cure. Cirrhosis can last for years, or for a lifetime. It begins as fatigue, weakness, and weight loss but as time goes on your skin and eyes will start to turn yellow. More than 200,000 cases of cirrhosis are diagnosed per year, and 31,000 people pass away from cirrhosis per year in the United States.

Over the course of a few months, my dad went from being the most outgoing person to somebody that could barely stand up. Before heading to school, I would say goodbye to him but when I got off the bus it was not always my mom who picked me up. At times it would be my mom’s friends that picked me up, I would ask why I couldn't go home and they would tell me that my dad was put in this hospital.

My stomach would drop, I wondered why he was in the hospital and when he was coming home. He would come home after a few hours, and it would be the highlight of my day. But sadly, there was a point where the disease took over his body and he would stop coming home completely. The hospital became his new home, and I was there by his side everyday.

I would sit in the hospital room talking to him and telling him about my day. I didn’t understand why so many people were coming to visit him, and bringing food to our house. To me it showed that my father had amazing and caring friends. I was only a child, how was I supposed to know that everybody was visiting and being so caring because my dad was about to pass away. It was not until the final few days that I had to face the fact that these were the last times I would see my father.

The cirrhosis had spread, and there was nothing to do at this point. He was in so much pain, and eventually was given morphine to help. As each day passed, he slowly started to weaken even more. He lost the ability to talk, make any movements, or even look at you. The photo above my article is my dad and I, and on December 11th 2007, cirrhosis of the liver took my father's life.

At the age of nine, I watched my father slowly pass away due to a disease caused by alcoholism. My father was not there to see me graduate high school, he will not be there for my college graduation, and I will not have him to walk me down the aisle at my wedding. I cherish the moments that I spent with him, and he will forever be my best friend.

There are people around you who have dealt with alcoholism themselves, or have lost somebody close to them due to it. Alcoholism takes the lives of 2.5 million people per year in the United States, and there will never be an appropriate time to joke about it.