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I just have a question about attending my first meeting. My father has offered to go with me to the meeting tomorrow night. Is that ok? He technically is a "friend" of an alcoholic even if he's actually going more for my support than for my AH. But he does care for my AH a great deal and he offered, I didn't ask him to go with me. Would that be appropriate or not a good idea?
Completely up to you - perfectly acceptable Natalie! Alcoholism is a family disease and al-anon is for friends and family - no matter if the person is/is not in recovery. How kind of him to offer to go - love that support!!! (((Hugs)))
Let us know how it goes. My best suggestion is to attend with an open mind and look for the similarities in shares instead of differences.
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Practice the PAUSE...Pause before judging. Pause before assuming. Pause before accusing. Pause whenever you are about to react harshly and you will avoid doing and saying things you will later regret. ~~~~ Lori Deschene
I think that depends on you. You are not required to share .. you can just go and listen. For me my mom did attend a couple meetings while visiting and it was ok however I did not share .. reason being that my mom is not someone I could share with on this level. So based upon the kind of relationship you have with your dad is what I would base it on. It's not something for me I would want on a consistent basis. To have support go with you to that first meeting I think is great .. again .. based upon the dynamics of your relationship with your dad .. it's great that he wants to be involved and go check things out.
Hugs S :)
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Faith minus vulnerability and mystery equals extremism. If you've got all the answers, then don't call what you do "faith". - Brene Brown
"Whatever truth you own doesn't own you" - Gary John Bishop
Hi, Natalie. Sweet that he is supportive of you in his offer! Nothing wrong with it at all, so long as you're comfortable. If you are, great. If not, perhaps you can reassure him you'll be fine? But if it's ok with you, it's all good. Down the line there may be things you'd want to share in an anonymous/group way but not with him present, but you can cross that bridge when you get to it. Sometimes people attend some meetings with partners or family, and others by themselves. Just a possibility. All the best!
