A side note: this doesn’t have to happen to you or yours

The worst years with my mother were from about 1965 until her death in the spring of 1970, just before I graduated from grade school. I know these memoir entries give the sense that I felt isolated and without resources, which is true. I didn’t know about AA or any of the related organizations for the children of alcoholics. I wish I had.

Today those resources are very much present. Even for kids who are too frightened to go to meetings, there are on-line resources that can be accessed from (for example) a library. If you’re reading this because you see similarities to your own situation, these sites might be of more use to you than my ramblings:

al-anon and al-ateen

why do I need help? he’s the alcoholiic!

al-anon diary

online al-anon outreach

I’m just F.I.N.E.

what an al-anon meeting is like

community forum: living with an alcoholic