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.
... a song of love, it bought ears to my eyes... um... tears to my eyes...
its sunday am here already... a neighbour lost his dog and came round to seek help...
grandkids, 5 out of six will be filling the house and backyard in one hour... having some adult time...
Sundays as a kid myself- I think we tend to globalise our experience... this, or that always used to happen to me. Well around alcoholism the same sort of things used to happen pretty often.
As a kid I would put a roast on about 9- on the coal range I had lit about 7. And prepare potatoes parsnips around 11. Then around 2 the roast would be getting dried up and woody, and the number of empty bottles increase on the table top... the first 20 mins of conversation was always vaguely interesting, but after that they seemed to say the same things over and over.
my favourite dish was potato fritters- we had lots of fat kept in tins up above the coal range the eggs were free and the spud sour family traded for fruit. No-one seemed to worry if I splashed a bit of fat around. What we used to do, if something got spilt on top of the coal range was to sprinkle a bit of salt on it and that put our the fire.
sometimes I would get the skillet and scrape off the black lumps, if the pan got a bit wobbly...
...our grandkids come to a different Sunday- laughter and sometimes a few tears.
Our world aint perfect, but its a darned sight better than it could have bin!
Ae grew up with the radio, and there was only one station- so I grew up, not with a choice of songs, but a wide array. Except opera. If my dad heard that he would say 'turn that screaming b#### off!'
Well I recall hearing him say that once, and so I learned something as a kid!
I love to sing- and when our grand-daughter go to be called Adeline I learned to old song- an' I reckon ah kin sing it as a waltz. or C&W or whatever suits...
jus ta prove ma point- ah loves music, and...
Drinking an' smoking was supposed to be about fun times... but they weren't. Not at all, really...
but tjhis is the song ah conjured up... the man Tom is speaking fram experience, ah'm shore...
...
if this song touches your situation, and maybe draws a few tears, please don't hold back... you are not alone... no longer...
be sure to reach out- there are those of us who have bin there too... ...we know as perhaps few others can...
John posted a song- a luvly one... ah guess ah posted a more secular one... a down beat- a bass accompaniment to his song...
Because drinking and "parties" can be a big thing leading up to Christmas... it can trigger us Alanons- as the promise of a good life and a happy family comes starkly into vision...
I think there are some boundary juggling around here over religious issues- done with care and kind-ness... and so I made my post above into a kind of alter-call- a call to Alanon, and a call to each other-
to close ranks sometimes... to give each other ESH... to provide some warmth and sense of family- at this time...
I am a little cocnfused about your recent posting as I do not feel that there is "boundary juggling" here on religious issues.
I did listen to the song that you shared and found it upsetting and depressing. I elected not to post a response as I did not want to be a "Debbie Downer"
I do believe that the MIP Board, the Members , yourself included, provides a beautiful sense of belonging and family to all who enter here.
Thanks Betty- I think my comments were related to the title John put to his thread- "No Offence Intended".
And no offence was intended, or taken... as far as I can see. For me I see the adult child experience right across Alanon and AA as well. Some people choose not to go there... and I think that is a really healthy option.
For some of us, myself included, there was no option... I just had to go there and heal... I shared along with the video clip... I recalled living around drunk people and any number of people who were recking their lives... Christmas, especially, was supposed to be a fun time... and there were some fun times... but in my world this was always overshadowed, by the illness.
Over time I have learned to see alcoholics as real people with real lives... and that is the part I choose to remember.
I wanted to post this up...
Thanks Betty- I think my comments were related to the title John put to his thread- "No Offence Intended".