Conversation today reminded me of someone who spoke up at a workshop at the International Alanon Convention two summers ago in Pittsburgh. He was a gentleman, sixty-ish, who had been in Alanon a couple years, sober through the help of AA for 10 or 15 years. He briefly outlined that he had drunk freely during his sons' teen years and well into their 2o's. Now he was sad to say that they had drunk together and that he had groomed them as his drinking buddies. One had made it into recovery or had just cut down (drinking like a gentleman?)and the other was very far out there, a real alcoholic.
His remorse was sincere and his grief was deep but there was no self pity. He was dignified and hopeful and his image stayed with me.
What's good about today is forgiveness, for ourselves and others.
The Walking Iris
18 hours ago
Easy to forgive, hard to forget. God forgives AND forgets. So I guess we can do that also--with His help.
ReplyDeleteCarol, you are prolific in the number of great posts these days, the kind which lead me to say privately, "Gosh, I've never thought of that!" OR "It has been years since that thought was brought to me."
PEACE and forgive others...
Forgiving myself was hard at first but it paved the way for a lot of compassion for others.
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