A Desire to Stop Drinking

When I attended my first AA meeting, it was only to keep a promise to my husband, whom I had told I would attend a meeting before the summer was over. August came and it was almost time to go back to my teaching assistant job, so I went. I did not attend that meeting with a “desire to stop drinking,” but only to keep a promise. I was very scared and nervous when I walked in, but I stayed for the entire meeting and I even raised my hand when asked if it was anyone's first meeting. It would be two more summers before I would walk through the doorway of another AA meeting with a true “desire to stop drinking.”