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Hi everyone, I'm Gloria and I'm an alcoholic. My sobriety date is February 9, 1991, and that

is truly a miracle. I would like to thank Earl for asking me to speak, and I would like

to thank Debbie for introducing me. And my story starts out just pretty typical, actually,

I was born in a typical everyday run-of-the-mill alcoholic family. My father was an alcoholic,

and my mother was an alanon. And I think any of you that grew up in alcoholics homes,

my story isn't any different than anybody else's. I mean, my parents, they partied, they

played, they argued, they fought, they made up. They partied, they played, they argued,

they fought, they made up. And you know, the big book says that for us, the ab normal becomes

normal, and that was normal for me. That was normal. I mean, I would see my parents, you

know, laughing and having a good time, and the next minute, you know, they were separated.

And my dad would be gone for, you know, weeks, months, whatever, and my mother would file

for divorce, and within a month or two, and he'd be back, and we were just this wonderful

happy little family again, you know, and that's just the way it worked for me. And that was my life.

I didn't know that there was anything unusual about that. But I do have to say that because of the

program of alcoholic synonymous, I know today that my parents did the very best that they could,

and not only did they do the best they could, they gave me the very best they had to give.

I mean, back then, I didn't even know about alcoholism. I had no idea. I thought that alcoholic

...