She told the story of her
late husband, his skills,
his leadership, how he

took a company from
nowhere to somewhere
in just a few short years

and then in a few shorter
years lost it all — person-
ally. When she was done,

a person to whom she
spoke simply said,
“Shamed.” He, the only

son, was shamed for
not measuring up to his
eighth-grade educated,

functioning alcoholic
father and he, the only
child, believed his father

instead of recognizing
his own abilities and
more, much more im-

portantly than that,
his self-worth, but he
couldn’t because the

sins of the fathers de-
vastate the children
from generation to

generation. And so,
he, too, was victim-
ized by the bottle and

“That’s right, dad, I
saw myself as a fraud
and the only way I

could outdo you was
to drink myself to
death in three short

years. Even you didn’t
have the courage to do
that, dad. For shame.”