Young & Sober. Группа авторов

but was sober on and off. Another resented her mother because of her drinking, and then resented AA after her mother got sober. A third was raised by two sets of parents and stepparents who were active alcoholics. On the flip side, one young person grew up a house that was “the local detox center” and the AA social hub for two recovering parents. These children of alcoholics never expected to become alcoholics themselves, and some had very intimate knowledge of the workings of the program.

      “My dad had been a member for over eighteen years, and my mom was an Al-Anon member. I remember being five years old, running around the kitchen as the coffeepot rumbled and the air filled with cigarette smoke. I never dreamed that one day I would be drinking coffee as a member of the group,” writes one author.

      Sometimes the parents’ disease helps the alcoholic find the program sooner. They realize, from their parents’ example, what they are becoming. Other times the parent takes the younger alcoholic to a meeting, detox or treatment center. The parents’ peers may become the younger AA’s mentors. Gradually, the YPAA finds his own path of recovery. “I found out I had to work my program my way, for me, or it just doesn’t work. I’m thankful that my family lets me work my program the best way I can, even if I make mistakes,” a member wrote in 1980.

      And the author of “My Grandma’s Gift” directly credits her grandmother’s tough attitude with her own sobriety. “Had it not been for my grandma coming before me, I do not know if I would have thought to join AA. I believe she saved me years of suffering.”