Happy in my true skin
Jill C’s Recovery Story
I grew up in a middle-class family in Australia. We had a three-story home with an indoor swimming pool and I had a pony. But home was not as it looked from the outside.
Not How It Looked
My family looked very successful, but my mother drank alcohol daily and my dad drank beer and got drunk.
Mum and Dad had weekly arguments.
My brother was a qualified Chemist at 21. He committed suicide one night- the disease of alcoholism got him.
It took me years to seek my own recovery after two marriage break-ups, loss of homes and a life of unmanageability that I did not recognize. My third husband, whom I love very much, is still out there drinking, although he has been in Alcoholics Anonymous. I have been in Al-Anon (12 Step group for relatives and friends of alcoholics) for nine years.
Recognized My Behavior
Only after eight years in Al-Anon did I admit that I too am an alcoholic, even though I stopped drinking 13 years before, after a shock when I thought I had dropped my baby girl over the side of a fishing trawler during a blackout.
After much soul searching, I finally remembered I had left her at the babysitter’s the day before.
Even though I stopped drinking all that time ago, I listened to AA members speak on weekends and started to identify my previous behavior. I now admit, strange as it seems to me, I too am an alcoholic.
We Need Recovery Too
This disease is cunning, baffling, powerful and causes insanity and death if not treated. I got help in Al-Anon for living life. I get wisdom from AA and life is wonderful now.
Alcoholism affects the family members and we too suffer from the disease of living with an active alcoholic. We need to seek recovery as much as the alcoholic. A friend of mine did not seek recovery after her alcoholic left. Now she is in a mental hospital, not knowing her name and unable to speak. The anxiety and fear she lived with took over her life and she is very sick.
Found My True Self
My brother never made it to Al-Anon and he committed suicide. I have answers now and I have a life thanks to the wonderful friends in the fellowships. This disease seems to be at epidemic proportions throughout the world. Thank God AA and Al-Anon are there for my recovery.
My priority in my life is to be seated on a seat in at least two meetings a week. This is where I find answers and the priceless Gift of Serenity. I found my true self by working the principles in all my affairs.
Related Reading:
