STRENGTH IN FELLOWSHIP

My first son was born when I was using.  This really brought me to my rock bottom and I got clean three months later.  He was disabled from birth and when my second son was born, it got increasingly hard to get to meetings, as my wife could not cope with both children on her own.  I found it really hard to attend the amount of meetings that I needed to and to put time in to working my steps.  It is a real challenge to put yourself and your recovery first when you have children.  It is really easy for people without children to say ‘go to more meetings’ when you are having a hard time and there is an assumption made that if you don’t go to enough meetings you are not putting your recovery first.

Knowing that there are other parents in recovery has really helped me.  Being a parent and my close personal relationships are the things I struggle with the most.

I started to attend the Monday morning meeting in Maida Vale, which has a crèche facility, and it has been great to be amongst other parents and to be able to share whatever is going on with me.  It is the first time I’ve truly felt part of NA.  I am really pleased to be able to be a part of the Support for Parents and Carers Committee and for the first time to have a realistic service opportunity.

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