Friday, August 9, 2013

12 STEPS TO FREEDOM (CONT.)

From the first moment that Becky entered an AA meeting, she felt like she was home. She loved the anonymity, the donuts and coffee, and the fact that everyone in the group welcomed her personally and took an interest in her. Several woman took her under their wings and began to teach her how to dress like a lady and act like a lady. This spontaneous welcoming made Becky really pay attention to the lessons and steps from the Big Book. She admitted to herself and others that she had a problem that she could not control alone and that her life had become unmanageable.

There are 12 Steps to accomplish on the way to sobriety which is taken as a day by day step. She believed for the first time that a power greater than her own would give her the strength to overcome her habits. She turned her will and life over to a total faith in God and-that He could stabilize her psychiatric disorder- and restore her to sanity.

For the first time Becky began to take an inventory of her life and problems during her long illness. She would tell what she had learned that day or in the past days to the Lord, and to myself. She wanted to be delivered from her own shortcomings. She made a long list of everyone she had hurt during her life and began to send out letters asking for forgiveness and offering to make amends.

She was so happy that the program was working for her and breaking down years of having her back against a wall. She had spiritual hope for the first time in years and was speaking of becoming a sponsor of some other new girl and even of writing a book about her experiences.

For six weeks I had my beautiful, sweetheart of a daughter, and we were working with her lovely sponsor to meet each of the 12 steps. Becky's life blossomed and her new women friends and sponsor saw to it the she got to each meeting and continued working on the 12 Steps. Becky now dressed and walked like a lady and we had the greatest conversations.

Then, one morning, Becky did not wake up. The boys found her dead when they got her up to go to AA meeting. Her poor heart could not stand the change of not being on so many drugs and it quit her in her sleep. We were all traumatized because Becky had been so happy of late and we had hoped to have her around for many more years.

Becky was so glad that the Steps clearly said that we could turn our lives over to God as we understood Him. So it was not a religious organization or tied to any other organization except for Al-Anon for the families of addicts to help them understand the program, and Al-Teen for the teen-age children of alcoholics.

Becky began to smile and laugh and have good clean fun. She became an enthusiastic mother and a doting daughter. We became as close as sisters. Sometimes I wondered if she was really the mother in our relationship; she was so organized and determined to change her life totally.

The point of this story about my daughter, is that if you can get to an AA meeting and get started in the program-taking little steps and not being crowded but receiving love and support from others who have walked the same path as your own, you can find a group of people who will accept you as you are and never make you feel bad for going back a few steps before you go forward. God Bless AA; I will always be a supporter. Thank you for helping Becky.


This evening is Shabbat Shalom! Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy yourselves. Blessings to you and your family.

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