Walking into my first Al‑Anon meeting, I was nervous, not to mention 15 minutes late. I sat down and started to talk. After the meeting, people came up and hugged me, thanked me for coming, and told me to “Keep Coming Back.” Now, almost a year and a half later, I am still going.

I walked out of that meeting feeling a sort of peace and relaxation I hadn’t felt before. People were happy, laughing, and talking. I wanted to be around that more. It’s part of the reason I kept coming back. I also kept coming back because I knew the disease of alcoholism had affected me long enough and I was ready to end the cycle of sadness, anger, and loneliness I had been feeling my whole life.

As the adult child of an alcoholic mother, and having several generations of alcoholics before her, I finally started to see how this truly was a family disease and a disease of relationships. The more I showed up to meetings, the more I learned about myself, about alcoholism, and about how to lead a more happy and serene life. As long as I keep showing up to meetings, even chairing them from time to time, I know I will not only break the cycle, but I will be the happy, laughing, talking person I wanted to be the first time I walked into an Al‑Anon meeting.

By Sasha S.

The Forum, September 2020

Feel free to reprint this article on your website or in your newsletter, along with this credit line: Reprinted with permission of The Forum, Al‑Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc., Virginia Beach, VA.