Welcome Irish and Draciak! Both of you sound committed to a new way of life. Draciak, from my experience, you have nothing to worry about with your family. You have a disease which you are doing something about!!! That shows incredible character...not the reverse! As far as AA, again in my experience, it is a wonderful F2F with others like "us" and a very supportive environment. Don't make my mistake and not open up. Everyone in the room has been where you are now...regardless of how long they are sober and it goes both ways...the newcomer helps everyone else just as much as the "older" ones. For me, the Steps were what made the biggest difference. Because once you take alcohol away, there is a gaping hole...plus a lot of raw emotion. The Steps helped me identify why I wanted to drink. Once I started tackling those issues, alcohol became unnecessary.