Originally Posted by susanlauren

I wonder what Mr. Dina would write about the situation if he were posting on the SR board. We are only hearing things from Mrs. Dina's perspective.

Violation of marital trust: don't you think that Mrs. Dina is doing the exact same thing as her husband is "supposedly" doing at his AA meetings by posting on the SR board? At the meetings I go to, people seldom talk about their spouse or significant other -- the focus of sharing is on program topics, AA books and literature, the steps, the traditions.

I would suggest that Mrs. Dina has many more options than (1) get used to it, (2) get a divorce, or (3) join Al-Anon and/or attend AA meeting with her husband.

Let's see, she could: take a class at her community college, volunteer at the local hospital or library or food pantry or elsewhere, take up a hobby, start a business, run for school board or city council, join a book club, refinish furniture, work on herself in therapy, take up knitting, join a health club or gym, read a book she has been meaning to read, go for a hike in the park, work at the local animal shelter, the list is endless.

The problem as I see it is that Mrs. Dina is so focused on her husband and her husband's "issues" that she doesn't seem to have a life of her own. I could be wrong.

Maybe I've read too many posts over in Family and Friends Forum where folks are hoping and praying (sometimes begging and pleading) that their spouse, significant other, son, daughter, etc. will recognize their alcoholism and find the rooms of AA and recovery. I am completely taken a back by the question and concerns raised by the original poster.
Susan