Reflect on your Al‑Anon birthday—whether you’re a newcomer or longtime member.
May’s topic is, “Reflect on your Al‑Anon birthday—whether you’re a newcomer or longtime member.”
As always, you can also write about Al‑Anon’s three Legacies. This month features Step Five, Tradition Five, and Concept Five.
Sharings on the Member Blog may be used in future Al‑Anon publications.
New topics are being added each month!
I don’t have an AFG Birthday. I don’t know when to mark it. I don’t join in the lines at our events when we have a countdown from the longest attending members to the most recent. I could just choose a date and make it so, I think to myself. I’m private and I don’t want to create unnecessary differences between myself and others at meetings. Although when I see the varying years of belonging I find it hopeful, would I like to be part of that? I’m proud to have belonged for the time I have.
A Higher Power knew I needed encouragement and a push. My doctor said she was so proud of me and that I was ready for group therapy…HaHa! She suggested Al-Anon. On an ordinary day (not a crisis), I got to the top of the driveway and had somewhere to go. Not intending to go to a meeting exactly, someone (I never looked up) Twelfth Stepped me by opening the door and with hand gently on my back waist pushed me in. A change happened. I was right on time and where I belonged. I didn’t know it and I didn’t… Read more »
It took me 16 years to get to my first Al-Anon meeting. It seemed to me that my family didn’t fit the description of an “alcoholic family,” so even though I felt strongly drawn to Al-Anon, I imagined I wouldn’t belong there. But one night a few months after my husband died and I was left alone and desperate to manage the original three family members, in my head I heard the words, “NOW will you go to Al-Anon?” I’ll never forget the date of that first meeting (Jan. 5, 2004) because I remember the Courage to Change page we… Read more »
It was the World’s Fair that was a catalyst. In 1986, everyone wanted to stay with us so they could attend. The 2nd week of July, my sister was staying and my spouse was drinking daily. I just wanted him to be sober while family was here. I didn’t want them to know how bad it had gotten. But he was drunk and ranting at everyone so I did the logical thing–I tried to throw him down the stairs. He tried to do the same, and how we both ended up alive is a mystery. But my sister told my… Read more »
I don’t remember the exact date or day that I joined Al-Anon in Calgary, AB. I had moved there with my second husband of six years. I was reluctant to move all the way to Western Canada. I had been given a choice by my new husband, either stay in Newfoundland (NL) by yourself or move with me once when I get situated with a job, car & an apartment for us to live in. I knew that I was very much in love with my new & second husband, I was also 46 years old at that time. I… Read more »
When I camed to Al-Anon twenty years ago, I was scared, lonely, and sick with anxiety and fear. My then husband was detoxing from strong drugs and I was afraid he would die. Al-Anon welcomed me and told me it would get better and to “Keep Coming Back.” Thank God, I listened. Today, I “Live and Let Live” “One Day at a Time.” I have joy and sadness in my life, but the sadness is short-lived. Feeling my feelings is one of the many gifts Al-Anon has given me. I’ll keep coming back!
My Al-Anon birthday, or ala-versary, as my home group calls it, is December 29, 2022. I can still remember details of that day – I felt so defeated and unloved. I don’t remember what I googled that led me to Al-Anon. Whatever it was, I am forever grateful. Over a year later, it is amazing to look back at the person I was back then. I am now equipped with an infinite number of tools to handle any complication that comes my way. I will always be grateful for the program and look forward to continuing to grow into the… Read more »
I am a longtime member, but only for the grace of God. When I came to Al-Anon in March, many 24 hours ago, I was 34 going on 13!!! I was so emotionally immature and so confused that thinking about this today scares the daylights out of me. I didn’t want to be there. My sober ex-husband told me to go to Al-Anon to learn to “mind my business”, as he put it. I was not a happy camper to say the least. I will forever be grateful to him for offering this gift of a lifetime. The month of… Read more »
My Al-Anon birthday is 35 years ago but I didn’t realize it was a beginning or a birth. Back then, I did not understand what codependency was or the importance of the group in my own recovery. Why on earth would I need recovery, I am not an alcoholic or an addict. But I will go, it is part of my alcoholic husband’s plan. Many years of dysfunction played out. Our family grew. I was in a successful career. My husband had 12 years of sobriety. We traveled, enjoyed raising our kids into adulthood. But the disease returned with a… Read more »
Forty-one years ago, a family friend took me to my first Al-Anon meeting. I was raw and full of confusion and fear. My two daughters were just infants. I had lots of decisions to make but the step I made into that meeting was gonna be bigger than I could imagine. Since then, new members have shared that same experience of the soft landing into a room full of love, understanding, and acceptance, all there to heal and guide. I am alive and well, still so grateful for all the meetings and events, readings, and now many longtime friends across… Read more »
I am an old/newcomer. That is, I left for years but I’m back and grateful for the welcoming fellowship I have received as I attend Zoom meetings. God’s/Higher Power’s grace is sustaining me through my son’s addiction.
I did not think we celebrated birthdays in Al-Anon and heard that was not ok. I am so glad that members around the world celebrated their recovery birthday with so much Love and JOY. I remember the woman who brought me to the Al-Anon rooms and I felt something kind and familiar in that meeting. I heard things that I could relate to and my heart had hope. I am so grateful that this month I get to be of service and host an Al-Anon speaker on her Al-Anon birthday and celebrate the joy of recovery with others who also… Read more »
My Alanon birthday is June 4th. This year, I celebrate 38 years in Al-Anon. So grateful I found my way into the rooms. My
Al-Anon tool box for accepting life on life’s terms has made all the difference. I can’t imagine where I would have ended up had Higher Power not intervened. Working the program instead of the problem is definitely my go-to daily goal!
This year marks my 23rd year in Al-Anon. This has been continuous. The result has been an ever-increasing ability to utilize the program in all my affairs. It has saved our marriage. Today I reach out to newcomers. I remember how welcomed I felt by those experienced members who reached out to me when I was too afraid to speak. I celebrate my birthdays with commemorative coins and by purchasing a subscription to The Forum, and by making a birthday envelope contribution to WSO.
This coming September will mark my 12th anniversary as an Al-Anon member. The date always makes me smile because it reminds me of the moment when a gentleman handed me a newcomer packet at the end of my first meeting. He pointed to the date he’d written above the names and phone numbers of members offering me support. With a smile he said, “This date might come to have a special meaning for you.” He was so right. That date has become my benchmark for recognizing how long I’ve kept coming back. Other than a job, I never stayed with… Read more »
May 9th is my Al-Anon birthday, I refer to it as my “serenity date”. After my first meeting, I heard members suggest keeping a journal, so I bought a notebook and wrote the date of my first meeting in there so I would always remember. I celebrate that date like I would any other special anniversary – it was the day my life started to turn around for the better. Every May is a time for me to reflect on where I was when I started my journey, and to see how far I have come. I always try to… Read more »
Perhaps like many others, when I walked into my first Al-Anon meeting I had no idea what to expect. I was there at the urging of my wife’s therapist, even though I knew I wasn’t the one with the problem. And yet deep down I knew I was suffering from a tangled-up mess of emotions. I had tried everything to fix the problem, but every effort was to no avail. I no longer thought that life would get any better. I feared that the future would bring only more chaos and pain. I was angry, hurt, and despondent. I found… Read more »
I am a grateful Al-Anon member of this worldwide fellowship. It’s such a timely topic for me “reflecting on my Al-Anon birthday” as I near my six-year Al-Anon anniversary next month, June! It couldn’t have been more perfect. The word for birthday in my mother tongue loosely translates to “day of growth” and that’s precisely what Al-Anon has been for me in the past six years. I’ve grown so much! In all aspects of my life. I’ve a growing relationship with my Higher Powers today whom I found in the meeting rooms. I have friends in fellowship who keep helping… Read more »
My recovery birthday is special. It marks the beginning of my journey to healthy behavior and serenity. I never really knew how wonderful life could be until I began to realize the gifts of the program. I’ll never go back to my old ways!
I am an extremely long time member. I personally can no longer attend meetings, but I used to attend each week. It was always great because the needs of others were always felt by me for personal prayer, and many shared awesome transformations in their own families.