When I was a young girl, my mother greeted my siblings and me each morning with the words, "Something wonderful is going to happen today." Many years passed before I started attending Al-Anon meetings, got a Sponsor, and worked the Steps. Al-Anon helped me admit my true feelings for my mother. I made amends and freed myself from the unspoken feelings of my childhood.

One day in my adulthood my mother told me that she had been fearful every day of her life since she was seven years old. I was shocked because my mother was 85 at the time. Then I realized the role fear had played in our lives. I also realized I had masked my feelings thinking, "Everything is going to be wonderful." That thought helped me through many days.

Through this experience, I faced some facts. My mother grew up in a home with serious problem-drinking. She transferred her experiences, ideas, and thoughts about life to me. In Al-Anon, I learned how to turn my past experiences into positive living. I allow those around me the dignity to do, say, and be whatever they need to do, say, and be. That's what a loving God wants from me.

Working Al-Anon's Twelve Steps and following some good orderly direction has helped me reflect on, understand, and remember that mothers are a blessing. I thank God for the opportunity to look at myself in God's light, with the help of the Twelve Steps, a caring Sponsor, sponsees, and the fellowship. Al-Anon has helped me realize that thinking, "Something wonderful is going to happen today," is a special way to start my day.

By Annette T., Oklahoma
The Forum, May 2005

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