Apologies,  due to 3CR technical issues I'm not able to successfully load the podcast for this week's show. Unfortunately also the audio file of the broadcast show is also unavailable on the living free webpage due to 3CR technical reasons as it has not automatically updated and last week's show is persisting.  I will discuss these issues with 3CR programming on Monday 10th Feb 2020 and then try and resolve the podcast problem.

Wilma grew up in a close loving family and met and married a drinker when she was 20 years old. His drinking wasn’t a problem until gradually the alcohol took hold and the husband that she adored turned into a greedy, argumentative person. Wilma tried to control his drinking but to no avail and on an overseas trip in her fifties she befriended an Al-Anon member and learnt all about alcoholism and its effect on the drinker’s family. Returning home she joined Al-Anon Family Groups and as the alcoholic continued drinking she found that her life started to improve. Wilma realized that she could detach from him and address her behaviour, which was also problematic.

Robyn grew up in a happy teetotal family that included her grandfather, who had previously had a drinking problem. She discovered alcohol and a different society when she went to university and mixed with many heavy drinkers. It wasn’t till Robyn was in her fifties that she met and married a sober alcoholic and attended AA with him, only to find that her life was slowly unravelling. Advised to go to Al-Anon, Robyn soon realised how much she had adapted to his life and become co-dependent and enmeshed. Al-Anon helped her to improve her confidence and get back her own life.

If someone else's drinking is causing you a problem then you can phone the Al-Anon Family Groups helpline on 1300 252 666 or go online at al-anon.org.au.