The One That Got Away?

Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me. ~ Carol Burnett

Addiction free but sandwiched between the alcoholism of her parents and the struggles of her daughter with drug addiction, my first thought for the title of this post about comedienne Carol Burnett was The One That Got Away, no punctuation.

Immediately upon typing the words I realized my mistake and added the question mark, embarrassed that even for a moment I had forgot that no one escapes from the pain, loss, and tragedy of an addicted family member. Carol Burnett may have escaped catching the family scourge, but there is no doubt that she still suffered the consequences.

I had chosen Mrs. Burnett as tonight’s topic in response to reader feedback on a previous William Shatner/Al-Anon post asking for more stories of the same persuasion. The TDA reader, in a relationship with an alcoholic, is also suffering the consequences that include stress and preoccupation draining the creativity and ambition from her work. So I thought it would be both extremely appropriate and a personal pleasure to extend a TDA Salute to Carol Burnett who not only survived, but is still flourishing in a creative, artistic career and has been a pioneer of recovery advocacy.

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Considered an American Master for her work in television by many, I think of her more as a familiar friend. Born during the first year of the Carol Burnett Show, I still know every show by heart because it ran for so long and later because of my daily after school routine that included syndicated episodes. My favorite character by far is Mrs. Wiggins.

More than an award winning artist though, Carol Burnett tackled alcoholism and how it affects families long before it became a mainstream and acceptable topic.

So here’s a TDA Salute to Carol Burnett, a creative comic and pioneer of recovery advocacy that changed her own life… and that of many others including my own.