A bit about Alanon

Alanon

a gathering of friends and family who love alcoholics

and drug addicts...

I don't often speak of this part of my life.

If I am to be honest about lilbit of my world,

then I must speak of my life in regards to alanon.

I have been out of sorts over this winter.

It has been a rough one and so I had given

up parts of me that are important.

Yet, just like all of us experience, the

more we give up that is important to us,

the more we tend to loose who we are.

So as the warmer weather moves in and I

am doing much better I am trying to get back into those

things that I have avoided when the cool winds of

winter settled in.

Hence my visit to an Alanon meeting last night.

I walked into what I call our clubhouse and there

were old friends and new ones waiting to share

the experiences of strength and hope for an hour.

It didn't matter that I had been gone all winter.

No one lectured me on why I had not been there.

All were genuinely happy to see me and wanted

to know all about the happenings in my life.

Often people mistake Alanon as a place to go so

you can learn how to fix the alcoholic/drug addict.

In essence I and others go there to change ourselves.

I have so much gratitude for these meetings

and am so grateful that I found this world wide organization.

At 23, when I stepped into my first Alanon meeting

every one there understood what it is to live

and love an addict.

They understood what the rest of the world did not.

I never dreamed that because of this wonderful program

I would become the very best person I could be.

What I am the most grateful for is that I worked hard

at all the program taught me would help me to be this person.

I am grateful that because of this hard work

I knew exactly what I and HOBL needed to do when

faced with addiction in our own baby boy.

People who loved us did not understand what we were doing.

Why? Because it did not make sense to the majority of the world.

Yet we stood strong with the help of our Alanon family

and we did what we felt we had to do to

help our son beat the odds.

It worked and now I speak to others what worked for us.

So now that HOBL is about to celebrate his 23rd year

of sobriety and baby boy has celebrated his 6th

many many wonder,

"Why do you still go to those meetings?"

I go for hope.

I go because in my life and story some other parent or family

member, as they go through their hell on earth,

can hear my story and know that there is hope.

I go because when I had no where to turn and felt no one understood

the people here opened their arms and hearts

and understood 100%.

I go because here I remain humbled by the many stories

of people who still suffer.

I go because here I remember honesty and how to

be honest with myself always.

I go because I know that I am the lucky one

and I am called to give back to those less fortunate than me.

I am on my way back to the life I want to live.

Alanon will forever be part of that life.