My grandmother was the one who consistently taught me to turn to God in all things -through good times and bad.

FACES OF DEATH

On occasion, I’d tell people my parents never did jack for me. On one particular occasion, at about 6 years sober, attending an alcoholic’s anonymous celebration, the topic of my mother and father came up between myself and a fellow recovering Alcoholic. I told him the same old same old-that my parents had not done Jack for me all of my life -It was in that moment that God revealed to me; My mother and father were the ones that showed me the true face of Alcoholism -the true face of addiction! Many an alcoholic or addict only gets to see the face of addiction through the eyes of an inebriated brain. I got to see it for many years as a child, with my eyes wide open, and my brain completely cleared. 80% of alcoholics coming through the doors of AA don’t stick around. Looking at my own patterns, I often wonder if I wouldn’t be one of them had it not been for what I saw, what I experienced in my own personal life through my parents.I don’t think I would’ve made it honestly!I don’t think I would’ve made it honestly! They say the odds were against me, psychiatrist, counselors…. And here I sit before you clean and sober and relatively healthy.

Actually, not drinking and drugging has been the easy part for me, once I got serious about it. What’s been difficult is “the leveling of our pride, the confession of
shortcomings which the process requires for its suc-
cessful consummation”.*

I don’t know of anyone who strolled into the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous looking to do a little touch up work on an already stellar spiritual existence.

*Source:Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous; Chapter 2: There is a Solution; pg. 25; pp 1 of the .