I am writing this while my little boy of three bangs around his bedroom and my daughter plays her music too loud as usual. I’ve been ill, they’ve been ill and in the cold of winter with a sickly child and the thought of a meeting tonight, you may well thing ‘why bother?’ With nearly three years of sobriety, I’ll tell you why I’ve gone to literally any lengths to get there.

I’m Bridget and I’m an alcoholic. I loved alcohol, but after twenty odd years of drinking, of wondering what was wrong with me and trying to clean up my act and not drink so much, I very luckily fell through the doors of A.A. It was there I learnt that I was suffering from a disease of mind and body; alcoholism. My thinking, my drinking; it all made sense.  I was like these people, they were like me, and I was elated to discover it. In the past I tried anti-depressants, acupuncture, doctors to find an answer to it all and here it was coming out of the mouths of happy people from all walks of life, who seemed free.

I did the 12 steps with a Sponsor, it worked, and I couldn’t believe it. I still don’t now! Today, I am the mother I’m supposed to be, not perfect but happy, sober, guilt free and free from the merry go round of broken promises, fear and dangerous situations. Getting to meetings has always been a hard graft, both my parents are sick, and as a single parent with no transport, and a child with a chest condition it seemed impossible. But a wise lady in my home group told me to put this first above everything, I mean really before everything. It is the foundation that makes it possible for me to live a happy normal life. I have done that, and looking back at that comment, I realize that every rainy cold night, taxi, baby sitting money has been worth more than gold!

I asked my daughter what she thought of it all she wrote this;

As it is most probably obvious my mum is an alcoholic. Ever since my mum has joined ‘AA’, I feel she has areas that have improved. And there for they shall be stated now.
Ever since I can remember when something for to my mum she would have a drink, and to her, that solved the problem but it didn’t it just made matters worse. Now she does her inventory (step 10) so she can clear her mind and do things properly. Also I feel my school work has improved and I have better grades. In addition I feel every day at school I don’t feel upset or worried about what she may be doing. There for in conclusion I feel AA is what makes my mum the mum she is.

I continue to put my meetings and AA first, as my little girl’s letter says it all.