Family Matters

I now understand how my family used to feel about my drinking and drugging. I’m having this experience up close and personal because a family member who’d been sober for a number of years took another run at drinking and drugging. And a few months ago, after two years of bad experiences, he came back to the program.

While I’m happy he’s doing the steps and has gotten a sponsor, I have a wait and see attitude because he’d been sober and successful for over five years before he went back out. He’s very enthusiastic about being sober – but then he was enthusiastic the first time he came into the program. 

I’m sort of surprised at my reservations, but I’m going to stay with them. And when he talks about his experiences in the program I listen, but I refrain from giving advice. After all, the advice I gave before didn’t work out very well. 

And there’s likely a part of me that doesn’t want to be disappointed again. And that’s probably what my family experienced so many years ago. I believe they loved and cared for me but they, too, were tired of being disappointed. 

Today I really do understand what they went through.