Pulling in the same direction: Alcoholics Anonymous

I sat near the back and looked out over the room. Familiar faces, unfamiliar faces, all of us more or less like John, pulling in the same direction. Then I had an image of every person in that room climbing into bed that night, all fifty of us getting into our beds clean and sober, another day without a drink behind us. It was a simple image but it filled me with a range of complicated feelings: appreciation for the simple presence of all those people, admiration for their courage and strength; a tinge of melancholy for the amount of pain it must have taken each and every one of them to put down the drink; affection for their humanity.

I didn't realize until hours later that there was a name for that feeling. It's called love.

Advice to recovering drinkers: Find a sustaining source of love to support you in your recovery.

Read another of our AlAnon stories, or read more from Caroline Knapp's memoir, Drinking: A Love Story.