Monday, June 23, 2008

Phone service

I've been taking phone messages for our Al-Anon district. There's a number that people can call and leave a message. Most people want to know where a meeting is being held. Today, I returned two calls from women who needed to talk.

One was a lady who is in rehab and who wants her son to go to Al-Anon. She talked to me about how she knows her 18 year old son is hurting, angry and in need of sharing those feelings. She wanted to know if her son could call me. I gave her my number and he did call. He was quiet but asked if he could go to a meeting. He didn't have a car so I'm to pick him up this evening and will take him to my home group meeting.

The other call was from a lady who was sobbing about her son who is an alcoholic/addict. She said that he is in rehab and is going to AA meetings. But he has left a lot of wreckage in his wake. She wants her son to be okay and wishes that she could take away his pain. I felt compassion for her and explained that he had a good program that he was working. I did my best to let her know that she isn't responsible for his addiction or his sobriety. I gave her a list of meetings and shared some of my experience with her.

I hope that I got through to her that her life doesn't have to be filled with so much anxiety. It's hard though when people are really hurting. They don't hear the words. They don't believe that there is a solution. I'm glad that there is an opportunity to let people know that there is a life line in the program. They just have to grab onto it.

9 comments:

  1. You are doing great things. I hope that the 2 people that you talked to will get some peace from the program.

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  2. Good for you. That type of service work is precious.

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  3. Thank goodness that these people had you to talk to. As it says in our "Big Book", sharing our past experiences is the greatest gift we have to offer and it will let them know that they are not alone in this journey...if they will only listen.

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  4. "when people are really hurting, they don't hear the words"
    Amen to that.I had to hear the words a lot before I took action.

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  5. Oh so true, Syd. If only I knew then what I know now. The anxiety was so high that it was tough to sit through meetings at times. Those days are over thanks to Alanon.

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  6. don't sink, swim!!! all one needs is a nudge in the right direction sometimes... i think you've provided 2 good nudges there.

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  7. You are a good person. By helping 1 person we help many.

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  8. That's great. And it's what it's all about.

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  9. Thanks for being on the front line.

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