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Old 01-26-2011, 11:06 PM
  # 10 (permalink)  
lillamy
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Join Date: Oct 2006
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Well, there's a couple of hopeful things in here (welcome, BTW!).

The main one being that HE brought up the issue of being concerned about his own drinking, and confiding that to you, and showing some willingness to get help. Those are BIG positives.
I second Lexie. Even if he's not ready to do it now, just admitting that he has a problem is a huge thing.

I feel like I want to reach through the screen and hug you (OK, I'm an old fart and a hugger, so it's not creepy, think of it as a grandma hug!). I recognize so much of what you're saying from where I was when I first came here: He's keeping a job and he's blaming the job stress for drinking and you love him dearly and you're scared for him and protective of him at the same time you want to wring his neck for not being there for you like you need him to be.

Al-Anon saved my sanity. I truly believe that. Learning about how addiction works, and also learning about what coping techniques I had developed in the relationship, and also learning what I was doing that wasn't helping, that was monumental. And Al-Anon did two more things (at least) for me: It gave me a place to feel normal, a place where everyone nodded like they recognized it when I talked about hidden bottles and fear of whether he was really sober when he drove the kids to school the next morning, and it also gave me the tools to live a surprisingly happy life with my AH for several years.

I ended up leaving. Many don't. But the tools and knowledge you can get from Al-Anon, and from the collective knowledge & wisdom here, can give you the strength to stand on your own two legs and determine what you want your life to look like, and work towards that. All is not lost. (((hugs)))
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