Jewel of denial

1972 was the year that AA changed my families life. I believe our last co-founder had just passed on to the big meeting in the sky one year prior. I was 6 years old, my mother Jewel was a waitress and my step-father Peter was a chef when they met and were both steeped in the dysfunctional bliss known as alcoholism. At this time I was 1 out of 4 children in a household raised by 2 well meaning serious alcoholics. My step-father was divorced with an ex-wife and 3 teenage children and was on his own when he met a beautiful young unwed mother of yours truly and 6 years later inherited another family of 5. There was a lot going on in that little apartment, 2 full- time working adults, loud active alcoholism and 4 little ones in tow. One fateful day, a concerned neighbor witnessed neglect and made contact with Child Welfare Services and we were put in foster homes and mother was directed to go to AA, if she and my step- father were to retain custody, she did just that and so begins the journey of AA in the family for years to come. As for myself at 19 years old when I first entered the rooms of AA , I had to reach an alcoholic bottom at 19 years old, it seemed to me that the only way out would be to make the ultimate sacrifice. Fortunately for myself and and others in my family I did not have to do that thanks to the God-given miracle that is Alcoholics Anonymous. I sit here at this desktop being a member of AA since 1985 with 25 years of continuous sobriety, with only 2 alcoholic beverages in 40 years and no drugs since that beginning and I can say that our family has had the kind of life that I could write a book about. Had our mother Jewel stayed in denial and not given the opportunity to save her life, the lives of her 4 children, her husband and helped others to see the Grace of God in action. HE certainly works in mysterious ways!