Someone to Drink and Fight With

It would be dishonest to portray Mike and Audrie as a wholesome happy couple. They loved each other, no doubt, but how they chose to express their love was kind of backhanded. Mike was an alcoholic and, until he turned 60, he was a mean drunk. He liked to hurt feelings and had a predator's intuition for his victims vulnerabilities. She could turn a blind eye to his depredations unless they were aimed at her. As their kid, mom was never going to save you from dad. What ever was the problem, it was the kid's fault.

All of the kids left home long before they turned 18. This left the adults to duke it out with each other.

As a young adult, I blamed her for not leaving him, for putting up with the abuse. I would see her oscillate between being his drinking buddy (which seemed to pacify him) and trying to be sober, which made her a "you think you are better than me" target.

Then he turned 60. Suddenly the raging alcoholic turned into sweet little old drunk guy. He quit fighting anyone and this created a crisis.

She had lost her fighting partner. For maybe two years, she constantly tried to needle him into a spat. The illusion of Audrie as the victim was dispelled.

They loved each other, no doubt, but it was with such ferocity that it could look like hate. 

The Drunk Crossing

Not sure of the year, but I remember the night Mike and Audrie installed the cross walk between Sam's Pastime and Uncle Bill's Bar. My grandfather painted the sign.