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How I learned to Mind My Own Business!
(Preview)
I was walking by the mental hospital the other day, and all the patients were shouting "13, 13, 13..." The fence was too high to see over, but I saw a little gap in the planks, so I looked in to see what was going on. Someone poked me in the eye with a stick. Then they all started shouting, "...
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Breakingfree
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15
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911
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Older and Maybe Wiser
(Preview)
I was reading some of my old posts, back in 2012. I didn't see any from 2013. I don't think I was here at all that year. I was busy, getting older and maybe wiser. In September of 2012, I was having a conversation on a popular social media site. I had left the recovery house I was working in, I had a job but I want...
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Wolfie55
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4
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548
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Problems with dating a girl in AA
(Preview)
good afternoon, i wonder if someone can give me any pointers... a bit of background: so i have been dating a 32 year old girl for the last 5 months and she is coming to 5 years sober, which is great. she underwent a 6 month rehab course and then has undergone the 12 step programme, regularly attends a couple...
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johnny
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13
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703
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7 Days....
(Preview)
Without a cigarette! Next month is my 56th birthday, my 25th sober anniversary, and the holidays... what better gift could I give myself than stop smoking which has been reducing my quality of life for the past few years? Keep me in your prayers as this is so very important I do at this time. Just 7 day...
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John
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16
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744
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Thank you Al-anon
(Preview)
A little thing that happened on Sunday made me sit up and realise how utterly changed I am now. AH's son had arranged to drop by at 11am to visit, I had other plans and was going out. The big a-ha Al-anon moment was that AH had decided to drink all night and get drunk as a skunk! So staggered into bed (we h...
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SunshineGirl
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6
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606
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what do you say when you feel like there is not much to say...
(Preview)
I am struggling w/ the right words to say on here sometimes. I always want to say something profound & meaningful. I always wonder if I am saying something that may not be approved. I just guess I will wing it. I have been thinking about my Papa lately. He is on my mind especially this time of year. Actu...
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Hoot Nanny
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6
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623
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Am I being judgmental? Or is my son's disease trying to manipulate me, again?
(
1 2
)
(Preview)
Hi - I'd like to ask for a sanity check on something that's happened several times now. My adult son is not using drugs, but he's not working any kind of program - he's a smart guy, but the disease has been mostly in control and his bad choices on financial matters and other day-to-day stuff have outweigh...
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texas yankee
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46
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1479
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Just when I think I have it all figured out.....
(Preview)
So, things have taken a turn in my own mind and I really need to re-evaluate what is going on right now. I was determined to end my marriage and file for divorce right after the holidays. We're having some financial struggles right now and it's really putting things into perspective over where I will b...
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andromeda
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14
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822
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how did you find your sponsor
(Preview)
HI! Please share about finding, choosing, and approaching your sponsor. Thank you!
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josiehere
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9
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588
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A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
(Preview)
Thanksgiving was a time for me to shine!Oh I was a little Martha Stewart!Everything was perfect,the house was spotless.My mom complaining she was starving, was it ready yet!My dad yelling at the kids, and he couldn't hear the parade! I cooked for 2 days!By the time we sat down to eat I was sick.Inside...
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mjferg
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6
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597
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Things are destabilizing
(Preview)
My A never stopped drinking, but after we separated ten years ago the situation got pretty stable. He never showed up visibly drunk, and we worked out an arrangement where he saw our son twice a week. Since he's a binge-drinker, he has long periods of sobriety. He even took care of our son (who wasn't...
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Mattie
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6
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672
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Opinions about drinking at home please??
(Preview)
Hi all This may be a controversial topic but I just wanted to canvas some opinions. I made a decision for myself a while ago that I would not drink at all in the house. My AH is an active A but most of the time he too try's hard to not drink in the house. I suppose my motive at the time was that everytime he asked me...
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Tash2
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14
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800
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Creating fantasies in my head to cope with the pain
(Preview)
I am starting to wonder if it is a bad thing to create fantasies in my head in order to not obsess over my AH and all our problems. I know it makes me feel better, and I admit I am kinda flirting with someone. This someone is a single man with a great job. Recently he mentioned he wants to travel and wants to know...
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Newlife girl
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31
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828
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Wanna know if this program works?
(Preview)
That was a response my sponsor gave to me when I was repeating "this doesn't work for me" over and over and over....whaaaa whaaa whaa. Well that is how I found out the program works...because I gave away something I felt wasn't working for me and it worked for them and I got thanked fo...
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Jerry F
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7
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754
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Thanks for the "Take what you like" option
(Preview)
Hello all. I've been reading here for a while and I just want to say thanks for letting me be a fly on the wall. Being able to read and listen have been invaluable to me. I started attending a local group several months ago and just last week talked to the group leader about being my sponsor. I'm sure I'm not a...
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Southerngirl
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8
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648
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Step 8
(Preview)
Step 8 has been posted to the Step Work Board Learn How The Twelve Steps Work.Participate in your own recovery as well as the recovery of others, by being active on this board as we go through the 12 Steps of recovery together! Please join in and share your ES H even if you are not up to this step. The link...
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hotrod
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2
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181
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gathering strength
(Preview)
My dry ah and i are trying to work on the financials. So we are trying to work together, first mediation then we did one on one to talk financials only. He would not discuss any personal stuff About our failed marriage. He would not talk about us outside of divorce. The mediator said we had a lot of unresol...
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Mirandac
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16
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643
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back for more
(Preview)
Yeah. Wolfie here. Aka Bernie. I know. I disappeared again. Only a few months this time. I could say it's the weird hours I work. Or that the outreach program Nancy and I are doing takes a lot of our time. Or That I bumped into some personalities again but that would be like saying other people or situation...
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Wolfie
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8
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661
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ask for guidance from your higher power!
(Preview)
Just a reminder... Had a rough night but remembered that *feelings* have nothing to do with TRUTH. Feelings come and go, and change. TRUTH stands and is truth for a reason. When we feel down, we should remember that there IS a higher power, through which all things are possible. Ask for help. Someti...
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giraffe13
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3
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3555
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What is your higher power?
(Preview)
So I don't want to bash Al-Anon but one of the reasons I started attending meetings is because I was led to believe you didn't need to be religious. I have attended two different groups in my area and both are very very religiously driven. I have openly talked about this at a meeting and was told to focu...
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Cooper
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5
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845
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Sadness too Great
(
1 2
)
(Preview)
I am sad beyond belief. The grief has hit it's all time height. I know there are 5 stages of grief. I have hit the first few stages already: 1. Denial and isolation, 2. Bargaining, 3. Depression. The next stage that I am experiencing is the Anger. I am so mad at my AH. He moved back home on Monday. I...
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Hullibee
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44
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1248
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it just keeps circling back
(Preview)
God I hate alcohol....dealt with it my entire life...even being sober myself for many years alcohol/addiction still affects my life and that sucks. Two months ago I finally had to draw the line with my 21 year old son and make him leave home. He had been stealing money and prescriptions out of my roo...
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Cooper
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8
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746
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Hi. Hello. Whats up?
(Preview)
Hi. Hello. Whats up? How's everyone doing? I got lost again but I'm back again.
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Wolfie
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1
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348
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lookinup
(Preview)
Take your pick of these and everyone feel free to add some!
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Breakingfree
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2
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303
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what do you do for fun?
(Preview)
I have a daughter who is completely amused by putting her face in a plastic jug and making sounds. (she's one and a half). Play is not always a thing that comes naturally after years of coda training so I'm asking you all, what do you do for fun? I struggle with this,tend to deny it for years and years then br...
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aquamom23
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30
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1107
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Can't seem to let it go.....
(Preview)
I am so desperate to let this issue go but it just keeps creeping up on me. I need help but please do tell me to just get over it. If I could I would have a long time ago. I've been with a sober alcoholic for 6 and a half years. It was a rocky start for a lot of reasons. I was going through a divorce with another alcoh...
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Nightingale
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19
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797
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I thought it was over
(Preview)
i'm so mad right now. Two months ago, my AH was diagnosed with mild acute pancreatitus. He had a 4 hour IV flush three days in a row. Two visits to the ER for hallucinations while he detoxed. He got his labs back a couple of days ago, and he's super-lucky. Everything back to normal, no liver damage, and...
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SpiderArcana
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13
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538
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The nightmare before Christmas !
(Preview)
The holidays are fast approaching and yesterday I was thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas and I had a panic attack!I am realizing that I really struggle emotionally around the holidays.I usually have an underlying depression around the holidays, it is just a sadness that haunts me. And in th...
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mjferg
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22
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856
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My daughter has cut us out of her life
(Preview)
Several years ago my daughter( now 24 yrs old) entered college. She soon met a young man through friends. Her life gradually spiraled out of control. We came to realize that she was willingly addicted to what we began to see was a toxic , abusive, relationship involving drugs and physical abuse. Long s...
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Carolann
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9
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573
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My boyfriend likes to dig into my traumatic past
(Preview)
I have allowed him into some of my trauma, like when I lost my virginity I was 12 and I was raped, molested what ever you wish to call it. I continued to let this guy that lived in the neighborhood take advantage of me just to feel loved for a few years, when I tried to tell my Mother about it, she silenced me, pu...
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Breakingfree
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15
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571
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my hands are cold but I will charge on...
(Preview)
Today is one of those days where my hands won't get warm. Anyhow, I am going to continue to type mistakes or not. So, what I am thinking is that I am so blessed w/ super-great friends who I can call on almost daily. Some people take time out of their busy schedules to talk to me, listen or even give me a ride. I a...
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Hoot Nanny
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3
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357
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My How my Life Has Changed!
(Preview)
I am so grateful for the Al-Anon program. Since joining almost six years ago, it has been quite a journey. Six years ago I was depressed and wondering how I would ever get out of the dark place that I had entered in my life. This month, I was offered a larger apartment in my complex after being on the waiting...
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Green Eyes
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10
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648
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Help needed for 28 year old daughter
(Preview)
I am a newbie to this site. I joined in hopes of getting some ideas on how to help my daughter. She is 28 years old and has everything going for her, a college degree, a good job, people that love her, etc.. However, she has a depression problem, which she won't discuss. And her answer is the bottle. No...
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4Horses
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6
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524
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my 28-year-old daughter is alcoholic to the extreme
(Preview)
Long story as short as I can tell it, last year this time we had a full-on intervention, had an interventionist fly in from California to where we live in NY. We ambushed her, and she finally agreed to go into a 3 month rehab in Utah. Here we are a year later and she is in her 3rd detox in Utah. This time is home...
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dizbee
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27
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6247
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Yay...for more opportunities to practice my program...lol.
(Preview)
Sigh, I put in a lot of work to make sure the old place was well and truly clean and orderly, I had the few bits of damaged plaster repaired flawlessly and painted, the gardens were good and the agent said the place was great, "damage free" and asked me to go back and dust again and "remove t...
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missmeliss
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6
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493
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Giggling felt good today
(Preview)
I am learning to laugh at myself in my martial arts class. I am quickly approaching 50 and my goal is to get my black belt before then...I am on track. So I was laughing at myself, then I heard a guy in my class moaning and groaning. He is in his late 50's. He tells us about his health problems, and he also laugh...
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Newlife girl
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2
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409
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new to alanon
(Preview)
So im new to this board as well as my alanon meetings. I told my AH a few weeks ago that i was starting therapy and would be going to meetings to make me stronger. Definitely did not like the idea of it being that our town is small amd doesn't want us to be airing our dirty laundry. Just my presence there he said...
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Pat916
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5
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655
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shining a light on dark places
(Preview)
I am feeling much better today!What a journey this has been.I feel like Bilbo Baggins leaving the comfort of the Shire going to slay the dragon!I am a hopeless romantic,by the way and I love whimsy!I realize as I face each demon from my past,painful as it is,I heal and grow.I realize I can't change the p...
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mjferg
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13
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720
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I AM a miracle in progress.
(Preview)
Wonder of wonder miracle or miracles...I wouldn't be here if I wasn't a miracle. I think even my birth was a miracle. And, to top it off, I am still a miracle. God put me here to carry the message. And, I intend to do something for someone every day as I am able. You see the key to happiness is not what you have i...
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Hoot Nanny
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4
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448
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Pfft!!!!!
(Preview)
It's sort of coming from all sides just now. But I think I'm coping OK. Excuse the fact that there is a lot of grizzling in this post. I think it's all coming from a reasonably healthy place as I become accustomed to not responding to garbage from the garbologists in my life. Mother has returned from her ho...
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missmeliss
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35
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722
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This morning, aragh!
(Preview)
AH and I had to go to a meeting at our local council this morning, accompanied by a young official chap. There was a long wait, about an hour, before we could go in, and lots of other people were also waiting to see this particular council official. Anyway, AH and our young chap were chatting away and I wa...
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milkwood
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11
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711
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Help, please
(Preview)
I am having a panicky moment here and would like some feedback. I have had a male spiritual director for many years. He is an older, gay gentlemen who has been a wonderful mentor. In the many years of my husbands addictions and into the early years of his recovery, he was jealous and very suspicious t...
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PP
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26
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856
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to be judged on your foo
(Preview)
I know this is probably a case of qtip but it feels so real! I'm very hypersensitive of late, it's truly hideous. Anyway today I received a cloak and dagger dig on my familial background through my stbx mil through my ah. Its regarding an aunt who is a whackjob drunk coda drug abuser....how my cousins sur...
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aquamom23
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7
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732
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welcoming Lillian Rebecca!
(Preview)
I would like to announce the birth of my granddaughter, Lillian Rebecca. She was born tonight at 9:21 weighing 6lbs 10.9 ozs. She is beautiful. Thank you God for blessing us with a healthy baby.
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cloudyskies
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15
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631
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Just referred son to alanon Gone full circle
(Preview)
Things have just gone full circle. I came to Alanon when my son started drinking as a teen. I grew up with an alcoholic dad & I am a dual program woman. I am also in AA. So my son was also raised by an alcoholic. He has the same broken picker that I had when I came to Alanon. My heart breaks as I see him goin...
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katiemac
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7
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402
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the women of my island
(Preview)
orare hard headed. Over the generations, much has changed, humility has given way to ego. The island is alcoholic. Every single person living on it qualifies for alanon. I think its long been this way. Only I recall a fiesty lineage that was strong yet soft. Today I bumped into a fellow islander accide...
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aquamom23
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13
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719
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Wife's first birthday is Saturday
(Preview)
My AW will have her first sober anniversary this Saturday. It's a big day for her of course, and I am very proud of her. I want to get her a present, but I'm the most unimaginative present-giver in the world. Anybody have any ideas? Of course, any idea should cost nothing and require no work (just kiddi...
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KennyFenderjazz
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39
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897
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Using my tools
(Preview)
As I mentioned a little while ago, a friend told me some things that suggested my A has started a downward slide, after many years of stability. He arrived tonight to pick up our child, and he was plastered. And he looked really terrible - disheveled, slurring, pants unzipped. This has never happened...
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Mattie
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15
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553
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Living with an Alcoholic
(Preview)
When the river of denial faded, I woke up to find an alcoholic who I allowed to enmesh my life. I realized I didn't have any friends and he kept me to himself. Wow.. I ran to alnon. I have been married for 14 years to an alcoholic. About 3 years ago, I got on his case and suggested that he might be drinking too...
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jpebbles
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10
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770
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wife,don't fail me.
(Preview)
its very hard to get rid of an a. Mine won't go. Just flat out will.not.go. And without creating a violent scene, I'm not sure how to force it. Let me be clear that the violence would probably be mine,as I am a volatile person when I feel caged.though I heard something great from a fellow alanoner,who advi...
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aquamom23
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17
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883
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Feeling alone, need to get this off my chest
(Preview)
I writing this here because I'm not sure if I'll ever get it out - and at this point I feel so incredibly alone. I know that I have not been a good person. I have lied. A lot. And I have not been true to myself, or others. I have not been a good wife, and I can't really tell you why. But I haven't. Maybe I'm just not a...
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HockeyMom25
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15
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625
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Married women past or present reaction
(Preview)
Mahalo to my MIP sisters for the input, the honest shares in this post started by Aquamom. Honestly I've read thru it several times because of the open honesty you all brought to it. The last couple of times I read it with my heart and not my head which is where men often come from and I get to remember ge...
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Jerry F
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8
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518
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HP puts people in your life for a reason
(Preview)
I was reading a book that discusses how people you come across are there for a reason. Today I got a reminder of why I left AH. There was a man in front of me at the store who smelled strongly of alcohol and he was buying more. I felt nervous and sick to my stomach. Thank you HP for another reminder of why I choo...
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Newlife girl
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5
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494
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How did this happen??? last week I am thinking I am agnostic---This week I am the defense for HP????
(Preview)
So its been what....a week ?? a bit more??? Since one of the deepest posts I have written was submitted??? I am struggling w/ the HP thingy and you all had to spiritually "shore me up" so I could get a perspective??? Well WHO in their wildest dreams would want ME to share with them steps 2, 3, or...
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neshema2
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7
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378
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Not if I can help it...
(Preview)
That might sound like the motto of the enabler and the fixer and it carries though years of recovery and input from my sponsorship. "If I can help it" means today that I will think it thru before making whatever decision I need to make in order to get the consequence I'm looking for. Thin...
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Jerry F
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10
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996
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Do you think it's "different" when the A is your adult child?
(Preview)
Whether your child is "a child" (when it is understood that you have full responsibility as a parent to care and provide for that child), or your child is "an adult" ( adult in years, but perhaps that child never assumed adult responsibility for him or herself?), you and that chi...
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lgnutah
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7
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444
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is he going to speed up his death??? is this REAL??? either way, step one, here I come!!!
(Preview)
Called my A brother yesterday....I had a "feeling" when he called me and left VM... So I call him and he says "haaay sissy, glad you called me back" and the convo seemed to go "ok" for a while...and then the bombshell.. Rewind just for a bit: Don't know if i told you a mon...
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neshema2
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13
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555
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married women past or present
(Preview)
is it really possible to detach from an alcoholic and still be married? How? I struggle with this. I don't believe I enable my husband by taking his consequences on his behalf. I don't lie for him,cover for him or any of that. I have over the last year been flying off the handle when he breaks promises and g...
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aquamom23
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31
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1254
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A bit nervous.
(Preview)
Remember when I was expecting a visit from a social worker last week? Well, that didn't happen last week but today instead. The Social Worker came here to visit, she is a very nice lady. She asked daughter a few questions about what makes her nervous/sad/unhappy etc and daughter mentioned 'fighting g...
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Luiza
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7
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606
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weekend: time to relax!
(Preview)
Just to make a note today: I had a wonderful weekend to relax & enjoy. After my day Friday. I felt the blessings of God even further. I am truly blessed & I had to share it. It resonated w/ me all weekend & even today. What a joy it is when things go my way. I am not going to let the negative spill int...
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Hoot Nanny
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2
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215
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