June 18

June 18 – AM

Page 120, To Wives, Chapter 8

Perhaps your husband will make a fair start on the new basis, but just as things are going beautifully he dismays you by coming home drunk.  If you are satisfied he really wants to get over drinking, you need not be alarmed.  Though it is infinitely better that he have no relapse at all, as has been true with many of our men, it is by no means a bad thing in some cases.  Your husband will see at once that he must redouble his spiritual activities if he expects to survive.  You need not remind him of his spiritual deficiency—he will know of it.  Cheer him up and ask him how you can be still more helpful.
The slightest sign of fear or intolerance may lessen your husband’s chance of recovery.  In a weak moment he may take your dislike of his high-stepping friends as one of those insanely trivial excuses to drink.
We never, never try to arrange a man’s life so as to shield him from temptation.  The slightest disposition on your part to guide his appointments or his affairs so he will not be tempted will be noticed.  Make him feel absolutely free to come and go as he likes.  This is important.  If he gets drunk, don’t blame yourself.  God has either removed your husband’s liquor problem or He has not.  If not, it had better be found out right away.  Then you and your husband can get right down to fundamentals.  If a repetition is to be prevented, place the problem, along with everything else, in God’s hands.

June 18 – PM

Page xxii, Foreword to Third Edition (1976)

The basic principles of the A.A. program, it appears, hold good for individuals with many different lifestyles, just as the program has brought recovery to those of many different nationalities.  The Twelve Steps that summarize the program may be called los Doce Pasos in one country, les Douze Etapes in another, but they trace exactly the same path to recovery that was blazed by the earliest members of Alcoholics Anonymous.
In spite of the great increase in the size and the span of this Fellowship, at its core it remains simple and personal.  Each day, somewhere in the world, recovery begins when one alcoholic talks with another alcoholic, sharing experience, strength, and hope.