The Day I Gave Up Fixing
Last year, on the first Tuesday in February, I attended my first meeting. It started as one of the worst days of my life—worse than the day I lost my dad to a sudden heart attack, worse than
My Life, His Choices
I have never been a drinker, but I have had to face the fact that I was powerless to stop my young son from drinking. What was it like for me to admit I was powerless over alcohol?
Patient with the Process
Just weeks after a milestone birthday, I broke my hip in three places. I’d been shooing a lizard off my front porch, and when the lizard leaped, I reacted to its sudden movement and hit the floor. I
A Disease of Communication and Relationships
I believe that alcoholism is a disease of communication and a disease of relationships. When my husband offered to help me around the house, I didn’t expect him to volunteer to wash my daughter’s expensive sports gear. I
Identifying and Guarding Against Outside Issues
I've always had an opinion, but I didn’t always have a safe place to express it, so I kept it hidden to avoid family ridicule. As I grew into an adult, trying to express my opinions sometimes sounded
New “Al-Anon Faces Alcoholism” Needs Your Sharing!
Al-Anon Faces Alcoholism, Al-Anon’s public outreach magazine, is getting an update, and your personal perspective is needed on how Al‑Anon Family Groups can help people troubled by someone else’s drinking. As you compose your sharing, consider the following
How Group Services Helps You Find the Answers You Seek
The Group Services team at the World Service Office (WSO) supports Al-Anon and Alateen members and groups. The three Group Services team members are here to serve you Monday–Friday, 8 am–5 pm ET. We do our best to provide
It’s Election Time! Are You Familiar with the Links of Service?
Have you ever wondered how our service positions connect with each other to provide an effective stream of communication from the groups to the World Service Conference and back to the groups? Al-Anon has two great resources that
Changed Attitudes Can Aid Leadership
I had only been in the program for seven years when one of my employees took me aside to let me know that my boss had declared he wanted to fire me. Wait, what?! I was shocked. In
Lessening My Character Defects
Growing up around alcoholism, I learned to read rooms and to take on others’ feelings and opinions. Drama and gossip felt comfortable. I have carried these character defects with me most of my life, passing on my judgments
“Keep Coming Back”
At one of my first Al-Anon meetings, a member shared that a reading helped to clear up her thinking—like cleaning off a dirty windshield. She felt she had gained some clarity. When I came to Al-Anon 15 years ago,
Celebrating Our Service Gifts
Growing up in a Hispanic home affected by alcoholism, leadership was, at best, elusive. The louder, raging voice ruling with fear and control was the means for leading. I became a good people-pleaser, but I balked at any