Hi Jil
My first AA meeting, I couldn't sit still - jumpy all the time and anxious as hell - but when everyone told their stories I heard a lot of my own in them and quickly realized I was in a place where people knew what I was going through and could relate in only a way fellow alcoholics could. I got a lot of hope that day just from seeing people my age who had gotten sober, stayed sober, and were happy living that way. The phone numbers helped too, if I need someone to call outside of a meeting.