The material presented
here is not Al-Anon Conference Approved Literature. It is a method
to exchange
information, ideas, feelings, problems and solutions on a personal
level.
I was at an AA Roundup with Alanon participation this weekend in Maine. One of the Alanon workshops was a panel discussion. Someone talked about being a spouse of an A, someone talked about being the parent of an A, someone talked about being a member of both programs.
The woman who talked about being the parent of an A shared some of her struggles in staying out of her daughter's way. Then she said, then the July Forum came, and on the cover it says - mother finds detachment is key -
Then she read the poem. Her emotion was apparent, and many of us who were listening had tears in our eyes too. After the meeting, one of the listeners approached the table wanting to know where she could get a copy of that amazing reading. (The panel member gave her her own copy...)
Thanks so much for sharing it with us, and by extension, with the world.
For those who may not have seen it before, here's the part she read:
Keep me barely floating and I will learn to swim.
Prop me up and I may learn to stand....
Give me a push and I may learn to walk....
And then run and cry and laugh and maybe even live but remember none of it starts until you let go and barely keep me floating.
(see Mobirdie's post of 21 June for the whole thing - even more powerful in context)
)