District – Page 17 – "CAL Chat" Blog ~My journey in Al-Anon~

CAL – Facts about Alateen (Item # P-41)

WHAT I LEARNED: This is the sixth item in the Professional Packet (item # K-30) & is very cut & dry info about Alateen – no extra frills or sharings in this pamphlet, just the facts ma’am! I did find it interesting that while the Alateen 12 Steps are exactly the same as Al-Anon’s, some of their…

CAL – Are You Troubled by Someone’s Drinking? (Item # S-17)

WHAT I LEARNED: 1. This is the fourth item in the Professional Packet (item # K-30) & is one of my top selling outreach items – now I can see why. This questionnaire is written very broadly so it can apply to anyone affected by alcoholism – including adult children of alcoholics & kids that…

MTG – Orlando – “Today’s Hope AFG”

WHAT I LEARNED: 1. I was a speaker again tonight & now I know the term I was looking for the other day that describes the feeling at the end of my story – when people come up to me with tears in their eyes – & the person I thought I was not reaching,…

DISTRICT MTG – July 2013

WHAT I LEARNED: With so many first-time attendees at today’s District Meeting, I didn’t get to say a proper hello to you because it was so hectic, so consider this your IOU for 1 hug!

CAL – Courage to Be Me – Living with Alcoholism (Item # B-23)

WHAT I LEARNED: 1. This is the first Alateen book I’ve ever read & I was not prepared! I should’ve had a box of tissues along with it – especially for the “Happy/Sad” section that begins on page 300. The simplicity & direct honesty felt like I was reading a bunch of diary entries from…

CAL – Has Your Life Been Affected by Someone Else’s Drinking? (Item # S-20)

WHAT I LEARNED: This is the third item in the Professional Packet (item # K-30) & is a leaflet of 20 questions that I’m presuming the professional would give to a kid to see if Alateen is for them. …If only the counselor I was forced to see back in my high school days would have given…

CAL – Fact Sheet for Professionals (Item # S-37ES)

Last week I finished the Men’s Newcomer Packet (item # K-23) since all the other items in the packet are ones I’ve already commented on. Time to move onto the next packet… WHAT I LEARNED: 1. This is the first pamphlet in the Professional Packet (K-30) & the Al-Anon program is not described as a…

CAL – Does She Drink Too Much? (Item # P-62)

This is the third pamphlet in the Men’s Newcomer Packet (item # K-23) & it’s the first one I’ve come across that has photos in it – which seems to be a rare thing in our CAL, but I digress… WHAT I LEARNED: 1. More importantly, I found out the answer to this pamphlet’s title is…

CAL – Al-Anon is for Men (Item # P-1)

Last week I finished the Parents’ Newcomer Packet (item # K-24). This week I’m reading the Men’s Newcomer Packet (K-23). WHAT I LEARNED: 1. I expected this to be full of sharings from men &, as a non-man myself, I thought: “Here’s one pamphlet I know I don’t need to read because I won’t be able…

MTG – Winter Park – “Winter Park Winners AFG”

WHAT I LEARNED: Sometimes I have an illness of not listening. If I listened as intently to people outside the rooms, as I do inside them, I wonder how much better off I’d be…

CAL – To Parents of Alcoholics (Item # P-16)

Yesterday I finished the Adult Children of Alcoholics Newcomer Packet (item # K-21). This week there’s only this one pamphlet to read from the Parents’ Newcomer Packet (K-24). –What I learned about all the other items in this packet can be found in previous entries for the general Al-Anon Newcomer Packet (K-10). 1. This pamphlet is a…

CAL – Did you Grow up With a Problem Drinker? (Item # S-25)

WHAT I LEARNED: This is the sixth item in the Adult Children of Alcoholics Newcomer Packet (item # K-21) & is a personal favorite of mine. When I first came into the program I was given this leaflet & I remember secretly answering “Yes” to all 20 questions. It spooked me because I thought “How…

MTG – Altamonte Springs – “Seminole AFG”

WHAT I LEARNED: Change is what I make of it.

CAL – Al-Anon Family Groups Welcomes Adult Children of Alcoholics (Item # S-69)

WHAT I LEARNED: 1. In the Adult Children of Alcoholics Newcomer Packet (item # K-21), this is the third pamphlet & it features 10 mini sharings interspersed with other Al-Anon info. 2. This is the first pamphlet I’ve seen that shows separate info for a 2nd headquarters – in Canada! (Which looks like it just had an…

CAL – Al-Anon Sharings from Adult Children (Item # P-47)

Last week I finished reading the entire general Al-Anon Newcomer Packet (item # K-10), so now I’m starting on the next one that fits me best: the Adult Children of Alcoholics Packet (K-21). WHAT I LEARNED: In this pamphlet, I’m glad to see that a couple of the sharings were from Alateen members, but the…