I found out that alcoholism is a family disease and that it affects everyone in the family. However, in Al-Anon, each member can survive the effects of alcoholism. Sharing my experiences of what I have lived through may provide a chance for others to identify with me and clear out their feelings of being alone or the only one of their kind.
When I share my experiences and the use of my Al-Anon program, it may help the newcomer and long-time members also. People are free to take what they like and leave the rest.
... my alcoholic/addict despite their illness. Trusting my Higher Power (GOD) to help me solve problems that I couldn't solve myself. Taking care of someone else's business doesn't help either of us. Alcoholism/Addition are a sickness, not a choice.
Bay City Al-Anon Member
...made me feel comfortable and accepted. They are very accepting.
Bay City Al-Anon Member
Our son had been drinking for several years. Our lives were chaotic! The phone contact I called warmly greeted me at the door that night and eventually became my sponsor. I learned that the disease had made me as sick as he was. I needed to take care of myself. He has been sober for 10 years. I have been a member for 11+ years.
Nancy W., Bay City Al-Anon Member
...for the alcoholics in my life, especially my son Mark. It is because of this family disease, and my recovery from it, is who I am today. My life was full of anger, fear, resentment and trying to fix my son. Little did I know he had a disease and I could no more stop this by words or actions than I could stop cancer or diabetes. I became the world's greatest enabler without knowing it. Thank you God for giving me the opportunity to live with an alcoholic and guiding me through the doors of Al-Anon. I didn't feel this way at first. But with the love and encouragement to keep coming back to Al-Anon, over a period of time I began to feel hope, love, compassion and acceptance towards my son and to the other alcoholics in my life. The only way I could help my son was by
... a sanity saver. A power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity.
Bay City Al-Anon Member
What can I say, it's complicated. Some days I love you, some days I hate you. I guess all relationships are this way but I feel like ours is more bad than good. I just keep trying to think of a good reason to have you in my life at all and I'm struggling. You probably don't understand because well, you can't think, but I'll try to explain.
Our first introduction was pretty awkward and crappy. You would take people I loved and turn them into people who were either funnier than in every day life, or you would turn them into people I didn't want to be around. You seemed to make some people really happy and giggly, but others angry and dangerous. I was little and it was confusing to me. I liked happy people and thought they should maybe even drink more often. I hated mean people and I thought they shouldn't drink at all. My conclusion as a child was that it must not be you, the alcohol, it must be people. Some were just happy and some were just mean.
