We Are Not Alone
“Our first woman alcoholic had been a patient of Dr. Harry Tiebout’s, and he had handed her a pre-publication manuscript copy of the Big Book. The first reading made her rebellious, but the second convinced her. Presently she came to a meeting held in our living room, and from there she returned to the sanitarium carrying this classic message to a follow patient: “ We aren’t alone any more.“
AA Comes Of Age, p18.
In AA I have found more fellowship and more genuine friendship with women than I ever did when drinking. When I was drinking I was always in competition with other women. I never felt comfortable in the presence of other women. I always felt inferior to other women.
Of course, one of my major complaints about going to AA was the fact that I was a woman. In my mind I was convinced that only men were alcoholic. That I would only find dirty old men at AA.
My first meeting was a young person’s group held in a church hall (of course), and the first people I met were three young ladies. It was these women who kept me coming back. Coming back keeps me sober.
One of these young ladies gave me a Big Book. When I got to the chapter, “There Is A Solution”, I knew this was going to work. Chapter 5 taught me I had to be prepared “to go to any lengths to get it .“ I was, because by the time I got this far in the Big Book, I had been to enough meetings to know I wanted what you had.
I have been reading the Big Book ever since. I love the stories in the back, especially the women’s stories. I read and reread the chapters. It’s where I start my day and it’s where I end my day.
This group, GROW, has been my mainstay for a long time now. I joined in ‘99. I have been very quiet in the past few years because my physical health has been bad and I’ve spent a lot of time in hospital. When I’m in hospital my Big Book goes with me.
Please share with us this week on your experience as a woman in AA or how coming into AA you’ve found affinity with other women, or what the Big Book has done for you. Or on anything else.
Bobby
DOS 12/6/89
PS: the Big Book is the book entitled “Alcoholics Anonymous”.