Seeing that night, both of my children and my husband were scared of me, and scared for me. I was sick, a very sick person.

Finally beaten, after 46 years, I reached out for help. I fanatically searched online, found the next AA meeting and got in a taxi – nervous, excited, scared, sick, and broken.

Arriving at my first AA meeting I did not know what to believe. I heard God and the Higher Power being talked about a lot but I was here to listen, here to hear from people who had admitted powerlessness before me, people who were on the way to recovery. I was at the very beginning.

I can see why AA presence is now found in over 180 nations worldwide, and over 123,000 groups, with membership estimated at over 2.5 million people.

that I could fathom and none of them worked. Alcoholism had brought me to my knees. Today, I look back and am amazed that I acknowledged defeat. It doesn’t come easy. I must’ve been in the gutter. For the first time in my life the words “Hi, I’m XXX, I’m an alcoholic”, came out of my mouth with no shame, no embarrassment, no indignation. It was just an acknowledgement of fact.