Ralph is enjoying a multi-year stretch of sobriety.  But before his sobriety began, he spent 43 years using alcohol, being drunk all throughout the time he spent in the Navy, attempting to run a business, being married and raising his kids.  But his sobriety came when his little grandson refused to kiss him goodnight due to the stench of alcohol; telling him he “stank.”  But Ralph’s drinking started early on, watching his father consuming alcohol and being angry, and thinking he ought to follow suit.