DisplacedGRITS

i post on my Facebook about my sobriety journey. i have a very religious aunt inlaw who unfriended me some time ago because i posted in support of gay marriage and gay rights. some time after i started posting about my sobriety and my progress, i got a friend request from her asking if she could be friends again, congratulating me on my sobriety and apologizing for unfriending me. that my sobriety brought someone back to friendship is just a wonderful thing. all the support i've gotten on Facebook from friends new and old is astounding. i am not ashamed. i am a recovering alcoholic and i am proud! my friend's faith makes me strong!

LaceUp

Still in my first two weeks here....
My parents, bringing me over bags of groceries and picking up my prescription while I just try to get as much sleep as I can.

EternalQ

My girlfriend wrote me today and invited me to meet her out on Friday, and with warmth asked me to pick the place where I am most comfortable, since I no longer drink.

EternalQ

At Mass today my sister and Dad both did not take wine at communion..i don't know if they did it for me.. But it sure helped me, since I was feeling sad I couldn't take the wine at this special dedicated Mass today. I felt less alone when they did that.

EternalQ

My sister recommended a novel to me. Then she texted me saying that she just remembered there is a lot of drinking in the book. In case it triggered me, she said, I'd be forewarned. I don't know if it would trigger me or not, but I felt really touched that she was that thoughtful and was looking out for me. Especially since she does not have a drinking problem.

Rennet

This place has helped, I've sort of monitored it over the years.

There's a guy I used to work with who was a real inspiration to me. This was a few years ago, when I knew I had a problem but felt like I could get away with ignoring it. I'm sure he didn't know that, in fact he was more an acquaintance, but he was just a real cool dude. He had moved to town from the Midwest where he'd been an alcoholic. He quit drinking and just seemed really content with himself, a new group of friends etc., and I hoped I could be in his shoes someday.

He was also really into music, and introduced me to a lot of cool bands. Last I heard I saw him in the newspaper, I guess his band had got a record deal so I'd imagine he's doing that full time (at the time we were working in a really crappy job in a factory).

It goes to show how much you can inspire people by just being honest and sharing your story. That guy didn't have any idea the extent of my problem.

Also--any movie about alcoholism, the last I remember that hit home was that Will Ferrell movie. I could totally relate to that guy.

gnly

Called me back when I called them.

MycoolFitz

A homeless vet I fed and said I love you bro

kmick0871

Tonight I went to an early Thanksgiving with well I guess you could say my second family.. Allot off people were drinking. My best friends drinks, but she didn't tonight just for me,I told her go ahead and she insisted not to.. She said she wanted to support me. I love her..

nogard

Loved me when I couldn't love myself

Casmasta

When I hadn't even considered giving up alcohol forever..
I visited a new friend in Seattle.
She had purchased a Citypass.. A booklet of tickets to all sorts of sights to see in the city. The needle, a couple of museums, the aquarium..
I kept asking her to stop places so I could drink some cocktails.

I ended up not being able to drink as much, because she wasn't a drinker.
And when I say "not as much" I mean I only got a little bit drunk once in 4 days. (2 bottles of wine)
(something i wasn't happy about..)

It was a far cry from my home life in Milwaukee where everyone I know(knew) is a power drinker.

She opened my eyes to a different way of life.
It's then I started to really think about quitting in a real way. (it took a few more months, but hey.. )

She was the catalyst, and I'll always remember that gift.

Miggie

My husband, bless him, has all but stopped taking alcohol. He does not buy it for the house, he makes sure there is a meal or snack around for the late afternoon 'sinking spells' and does not drink if we are out together. He listens if I look to him for support. We look cute drinking tea together in restaurants while everyone else has their wine.

MycoolFitz

I hate to even write it but my wife and later a lover leaving me made me really get stuff together. People who said I love you but can not be with you anymore. Sometimes I need to be hit by a hammer to see the light of day.

EternalQ

I had a friend, who I used to drink with, who still drinks, (but not around me), asked me if our friendship/ his drinking threatened my sobriety.

Twenties

A lot of members in the young peoples's AA groups have invited me out to things. It's given me things to do that dont involve drinking, and theyve been very supportive

sothisisit

This topic has surprisingly shaken me up. I have been trying to write something but every instance that I THOUGHT was a kind act was actually an indication of co-dependancy. I'm speaking solely about myself here. For example;

About 4 years ago my girlfriend, it was a new relationship, and I were speaking on the phone and I told her that once again I couldn't meet up. I finally confessed to her why- that I was an alcoholic and in horrible withdrawal as I was trying, yet again, to stop drinking. She is from a very conservative Chinese family and drinking problems were not something she had any experience of or knowledge of at all. She came over after work and stayed through to the next morning. I spent the night explaining what I was going through. She actually slept across the door of my apartment in order to stop me going out to get more alcohol. Much of our relationship was her being very supportive. She wanted me to stop but she acknowledged that how hard it was for me.

She was/is a wonderful woman who I still am friends with but I realized after a while that it wasn't healthy for either of us. Perhaps one of the kindest things I've ever done for someone else, in my active alcoholism, was to tell her that I thought it best for us to split up as I was only going to make her life miserable and that I was only going to feed off of her kindness. That it wasn't going to help me in the long run either. Even in my insanity I understood how I manipulated people.

I don't know if that makes any sense but I felt that I did the right thing for both of us.

EternalQ

One of my sisters, who is hosting Thanksgiving, (and is not a problem drinker), said, she will abstain from alcohol on Thanksgiving and drink sparkling cider with me. Totally her idea.... she said it when I asked her if I should bring my own beverage. She knows it is my first sober Thanksgiving.

"Sisters in solidarity" She said, kindly: "I know you don't need it, but maybe it will make it easier..."

I am SO grateful.

dogmamma

After my first AA meeting, I was so ashamed and tearful I could barely meet anyone's eyes (NOT my personality). Afterward, this girl maybe 10 or 15 years younger than me walked up to me, handed me a keychain with the solidarity prayer. It was small, but I was so ready to flee the scene. I need that. She didn't even know me and she saw I was hurting and reached out in kindness.

dogmamma

Agreed. Almost all of the most powerful acts by others that supported my sobriety came from the people all this site. I can't tank you all enough.

phoebe64

When my sister in law noticed I was not drinking 2 Thanksgivings ago(I only said I was trying to be healthier and to lose weight), has continued to buy the mineral water she knows I like(and is unique to a store where she lives, not where I am from). I did return to drinking, but she still supports my efforts to limit it by always having that around. In front of family I moderate(d) anyway. Or at least, only over indulged a time or two, and not embarrassingly so, as the family are all pretty big drinkers(my husband's family, actually). So, she is simply being kind and understanding, not pressuring me either way.

I do have one friend, who knows I considered myself to be "drinking more than is healthy" who will not order drinks when we get together. She is not much of a drinker anyway, and it would actually be ok with me if she did get a glass of wine, because that is all it will ever be with her. But, she does not care at all about having it, and enjoys some Thai tea as much as a glass if wine. She is very busy, however and I hardly get to see her.