Hey all -
I'm a long time recovering adult child of addict/alcoholics. I'm about to celebrate 21 years of "detachment with love" from my family.
I'm a veterinarian and I just relocated to western New York from the west coast. My new job is great, but my hours have made it really difficult to try out different Al-Anon meetings here. I thought in the meantime I'd check out some online options and found this place. I signed up weeks ago, but have been so busy I haven't had time to think about how to introduce myself.
When I'm not in the clinic I'm usually out driving my Mini CooperS in various solo autocross and rally events. Autosports has been a real gift to me; a great way to come into a brand new area thousands of miles from home, have fun, and make new friends.
Even though I live far away from them, I still keep in touch with my parents. I was "no contact" for nearly a decade, but a few years ago stepped in to help when things got really out of control for them. The cool thing was that I did it on my terms and with my boundaries intact. I pointed them at AA and Al-anon and now they are both active on and off. (Lately more on than off though.)
I am a big advocate of the disease concept of alcoholism/addiction. (2 different diseases with different genetic predispositions, physiological, and neurological changes) I started out as a post-doc in addiction neuro research but I missed being in the clinic too much. So even though the subject is close to my heart, I knew research was the wrong place for me. I used to do a lead on the disease concept for our local newcomers AA meeting that always sparked a lot of good discussion. I really miss it.
It's really nice to meet all of you. There is a lot of ESH to go around here.
-e