Dad continued with his story, ‘And then when I got older I saw friends getting stuck into the booze and lose their ways. People that I played footie and basketball with, girls that I went to school with that had fallen on hard luck – the alcohol just stuck to them. And I knew why some of my Aunties and Uncles drank. My Great Uncles, when they came back from war, after fighting for Country, they weren’t accepted. They didn’t fit in anywhere, they couldn’t get work and they were stuck in a cycle of poverty. That’s why they drank, I guess, to try to make themselves feel better.’

He added, ‘And you know that sometimes I drink alcohol, Phoebe, but I try to be very cautious with it. If I’m upset I try to go for a run or watch a game of basketball or something to relax, not have a drink. And you could probably count the number of times on your hand that I’ve been drunk.’

That was true. I tried to think of the times that I’d seen Dad drunk and all that came to mind was one birthday party when some of Dad’s friends dropped around and he got carried away watching the one-day international cricket game and drinking a lot of beers. It wasn’t scary or anything. He just had a whole lot of fun, and then went to bed and woke up pretty normal. He actually took me to shoot some hoops the next morning, maybe so that he could sweat the alcohol out.

‘One of the things, Phoebe,’ he continued, ‘is that when I was about your age, I thought about the type of life that I wanted to have. Even though I partied a bit when I was young, I knew that when it came to having a family, that I didn’t want drugs and alcohol to have anything to do with it.’

‘Why did you marry Mum then?’

‘Well at the time I fell in love with your mum, you know, we had a lot of things in common. I hope you don’t mind me saying,’ Dad said, looking to Caitlin for approval, ‘your Mum was very attractive – still is. When you start dating, in our society, having a drink or two is what you do. It was many years after falling in love with your mum that I actually realised she had a problem. And for a long time I could forgive her because, well, I loved your mum.’ Dad paused for a moment and then said, ‘Phoebe, I guess what I’m really trying to say is that I find your mum’s drinking really hard. We’re in a situation that is the complete opposite of what I wanted for our family.’