Page 231 - The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous

Alco_1893007162_6p_01_r5.qxd 4/4/03 11:17 AM Page 216

216 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS
before. We talk. I tell them of the peace and that
I believe in God. I think of my wife. I must write her.
One girl suggests that I phone her. What a wonderful
idea!
My wife hears my voice and she knows that I have
found the answer to life. She comes to New York. I
get out of the hospital and we visit some of these new­
found friends.
I am home again. I have lost the Fellowship. Those
who understand me are far away. The same old prob­
lems and worries still surround me. Members of my
family annoy me. Nothing seems to be working out
right. I am blue and unhappy. Maybe a drink—I put
on my hat and dash off in the car.
Get into the lives of other people is one thing the
fellows in New York had said. I go to see a man I had
been asked to visit and tell him my story. I feel much
better! I have forgotten about a drink.
I am on a train, headed for a city. I have left my
wife at home, sick, and I have been unkind to her in
leaving. I am very unhappy. Maybe a few drinks
when I get to the city will help. A great fear seizes me.
I talk to the stranger in the seat beside me. The fear
and the insane idea are taken away.
Things are not going so well at home. I am learning
that I cannot have my own way as I used to. I blame
my wife and children. Anger possesses me, anger such
as I have never felt before. I will not stand for it. I
pack my bag and I leave. I stay with some under­
standing friends.
I see where I have been wrong in some respects. I
do not feel angry any more. I return home and say
I am sorry for my wrong. I am quiet again. But I have