Dear New Member,

 

   Welcome! No matter how fearful you are, please don’t leave the meeting. I was so scared to go to my first Al-Anon meeting. I had promised myself that I’d sit in the back of the room and not talk. But when I went into the meeting room, everyone was sitting around a table. The people were friendly and kind, although I was still uneasy. Sure I cried at the meeting. That was because the members were expressing what I was feeling.

 

The pain and disappointment of living with active alcoholism is unbearable alone. After the meeting, which was an hour, I received hugs before leaving with plenty of literature and members’ phone numbers. One member called me the next day and she soon became my Sponsor. The most important message I took home after my first meeting was that I was powerless over alcohol and it wasn’t my fault that my husband drank so much. That was a big weight off my shoulders.

 

                                                               By Madeleine C., Quebec

 

Reprinted with permission of:

 The Forum, Al-Anon Family Group Hdqts., Inc., Virginia Beach, VA.