I’m 47 years old and have been in FA for 8 years. Upon entering the rooms the first thing I noticed was that there weren’t a lot of people who looked like me. I’m of African American descent. My journey in FA began with two Caucasian sponsors. My first sponsor guided me through the introductory phases of recovery which aided in a 60 lbs. weight loss. Then she broke her abstinence. This troubled me greatly, I had a fearful uneasiness that surely I’d lose my abstinence since the person who was helping me wasn’t able to sustain it. While attending an A.W.O.L (a way of life—a detailed study of the 12 steps) I approached a fellow whom I respected. She was intelligent, beautiful, spiritually grounded (a pastor in fact), at a healthy weight and again Caucasian. It didn’t matter to me, she had what I wanted. She offered recovery suggestions... Continue Reading
I sat on my sofa and pressed the phone to my ear. I was angry. It was, one more time, hard to focus on a 90-minute telephone AWOL with FA members who have arrived at Step Two in this committed FA Twelve-Step study group. I have to choose a telephone AWOL since I am far away from any live AWOL meetings. I can’t wait for this call to be over. The abstinence is great, but these people are talking about insanity. It seemed as if everyone wants to be the most insane, sort of like an insanity competition. Do I really need this kind of self-flagellation? They describe with dramatic exaggeration their petty habits with food while they ate, and how their bodies got disfigured by it. I am different. Why do they harp on this over and over again? Finally I‘ve had enough! I hang up and call a... Continue Reading
I am a father of four incredible children, now between 3 and 13 years of age. Prior to entering recovery in FA four years ago, I never viewed my children as assets whom I could cherish. I saw them as a burdens for me, because they never did what I wanted them or needed them to do. They seemed to be in the habit of not listening to my wife or me. I thought of parenting as hard work. If only the children just did what I told them to do and stayed out of my way! After being in recovery for a couple of years, I was well and truly at my healthy body weight (some 45 pounds lighter), when my 8-year-old son gave me one of the most profound experiences in my short life in recovery.It happened to be the Jewish New Year, and at school my son... Continue Reading
Every time my husband and I have ever gone on vacation, by the time we got to our destination I was so full of resentment and fear that I could barely enjoy the trip. I would cope with the fear of leaving my kids by stopping in the first gift shop I saw at the airport to buy something full of sugar and fat. It was usually something I wouldn’t normally allow myself to eat. I would justify the financial and caloric expense because I was going on vacation. I never realized I was looking to numb the fear of something tragic happening and the worry that I might never see my children again. To me, the fear was very real and big; I really thought I might die while I was away from my children. I would write each one of my children a letter telling them how much... Continue Reading
I was about to board a flight for my first trip to Europe in 37 years. Two years earlier, I had reconnected with some of my best college friends at a 35th reunion. They lived in Europe and I had spent much of my adult life in South America, so we had lost touch during the childrearing years. For the reunion, I was at my top weight, and it had taken me months of soul-searching to build up the courage to present myself. Fortunately, I overcame my fear and isolation for the event, and we were all excited to pick up where we had left off. After the reunion, I found FA, and now, I was almost at my goal weight, having shed 100 pounds. There was no chafing, no struggling to fit into the plane seats, no gasping for breath. The miracle was real, but I was terrified of... Continue Reading
