The Forum             

The Forum is an international monthly publication of Al-Anon Family Groups, that offers help and hope for the families and friends of alcoholics. Al-Anon and Alateen members share their challenges, insights, and progress along their path of self-discovery and spiritual growth. The magazine also includes topics for discussion at meetings as well as news and information from Al-Anon's World Service Conference and World Service Office. To order your subscription click HERE.

The following articles are reprinted from the February 2026 issue, with permission of The Forum, Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc., Virginia Beach, VA

The Reason I Came to Al‑Anon

While I was having lunch with a new Al-Anon friend, she asked me, “Who brought you to Al‑Anon?” It took me just seconds to respond. I brought myself to this program. You see, I have learned that no alcoholic, nor any other person, caused my actions, reactions, or responses to the people, places, and things in my life.

When I first came to Al-Anon, like many of us, I came because of someone else’s drinking. I naively thought that if only the drinking would stop, I would be okay, and my problems would be over. That way of thinking led me to leave Al-Anon after only being in the program for a couple of years. My marriage had ended and so, I thought, did my problem.

It turned out that not living with active alcoholism did ease some of my problems initially, but I hadn’t yet realized the effect of multi-generational alcoholism in my life. The way I looked at things, the way I responded to situations, and the way I felt and thought were all distorted by being raised in the disease of alcoholism.

Years later, I returned to Al-Anon for a different reason: to save myself. I now work this program for me, to the best of my ability on any given day, and I walk through it with a loving Higher Power and a Sponsor who helps guide me through the difficult situations life continues to throw at me at times.

I am a very grateful member of this worldwide fellowship, and I deserve to be here because I know now this is where I belong.

By Monique R.

The Forum, March 2026

My Quiet Half-Hour

“Just for today I will have a quiet half hour all by myself and relax.” I had somehow lost track of this wonderful suggestion from Al-Anon’s Just for Today bookmark (M-12). It’s not that I don’t have quiet half hours; I live alone. Rather, I had lost sight of the message, “During this half hour, sometime, I will try to get a better perspective of my life.”

I hadn’t even noticed that it only needed to be “sometime,” not the whole time. Isn’t that our beautiful Al-Anon way of doing things? I can try too hard, forgetting that the half hour is meant for relaxation rather than the (possible) hard work of getting a better perspective. Even if the “sometime” is meant to occur during that half hour, obviously I don’t have to spend those full 30 minutes working out my perspective on life.

Now, I feel forgiven for what I considered my backsliding. Most of my quiet time can be devoted to “Easy Does It.” While I practice “Easy Does It,” my perspective on life will change for the better without any additional effort on my part. Thank you, Al-Anon.

By Beryl S.

The Forum, March 2026

A Community of Understanding

Fourteen months ago, I was overwhelmed with anxiety and felt completely broken. My desire to control was off the charts as I watched my beautiful 38-year-old daughter—the mother of a precocious five-year-old and wife of a kind and loyal man—sink deeper into the depths of alcoholism. Her decline had been ongoing for over 12 years, and I was reaching my breaking point.

In my fear, I wrote what I thought was an insightful and necessary email, outlining all my daughter’s deficiencies and suggesting clear, measurable goals I felt she should pursue. I called her out as an alcoholic and detailed the negative impact her alcoholism was having on her young son, her husband, and me. I pleaded with her to quit her job and enter treatment immediately. I ended my rant with a sharp jab about her responsibility as a mother and the likelihood of her child continuing the pattern of addiction because of the behaviors she was modeling. That email was brutal, but at the time, I felt nothing else had worked, so this was my “big chance” to change everything with a mere stroke of the keyboard.

That exchange severed our relationship and plunged me deeper into panic and grief. In desperation, I turned to an online search that landed me on the Al-Anon website. I discovered that there were parent-focused meetings taking place on electronic platforms practically every hour of every day across the world. Nervously, I logged into my first meeting and listened as others shared their stories, which sounded like my own. I had found a community of people who deeply understood my circumstances. I eagerly sought out a Sponsor and began to work the Steps. Gradually, I realized I was not alone and that I could be happy and at peace, whether my daughter continued to drink or not.

Today, my relationship with my daughter has been healed. She often describes the positive changes she sees in me that give her the freedom to fight for her sobriety, knowing that I will always show up with love, empathy, and compassion. I am at peace now and understand that she is on her own path. Additionally, I have an incredible network of Al‑Anon angels around me who offer wisdom, kindness, and, above all, hope.

By Sheryl V.

The Forum, March 2026