I hate alcohol, but it never made me stop loving my dad

This First Person piece is by Andrea Landry, an Indigenous rights defender and freelance writer who lives on Poundmaker Cree Nation in Saskatchewan. For more information about CBC’s First Person stories, please see the FAQ.

My dad did the best he could in life. 

He did the best he could in my childhood. As we grew, he did the best he could in our teen and adult years. 

And sometimes, he struggled.

He was the type of dad who would load us up in the car when my mom’s rage got the best of her. He would take us to the beach to look