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“Perhaps I have blocked out most of my past. I don’t remember much about when I was a child. My first realization of the problem and what was causing it came when I was about 14 years old. My mother had entered a rehabilitation center and now was trying to stay dry. My father was, and still is, drinking. My brother and sister had left home, and I was very much alone. I often locked myself in my room when I returned home from school; there I waited for my father to come home from work, and take me from the lonely place I called ‘hell,’ to a place I called ‘home’ (the bar). Dinner often consisted of cheese curls and soda.

“One day a teacher who seemed to sense that I was different from the other students asked if there was a problem. Due to the insight this teacher had, I found myself attending an Alateen meeting within a week. Alateen became the family I had lost to alcoholism; they gave me the love and understanding I’d never had the privilege to obtain. When I felt down, they picked me up. When I began to break, they put me back together.

“After three years in Alateen, I ‘graduated.’ Once again I felt lost, alone, and scared. The Alateen family I had grown to love and cherish was now gone. Where would I go, what would I do? In my desperate attempt to find love and security, I tried an Al‑Anon meeting.”

Moving On! From Alateen to Al‑Anon (P‑59), pp. 8‑9