I am so grateful for the kind, but honest members of this group- which is new to me- I only found you within the past few weeks. Aside from my family of origin, which was strange, to say the least, I was then part of a group of Pirates from the time I was 16, and men raised me- Pirate men. My first "meaningful relationship" was with a Captain whom I had my first child to at 18. She was stillborn through medical neglect. I then became involved with our best friend, another Captain, whom I ultimately married and stayed with for 20 years, bearing 5 more children- 3 who died at the hands of doctors, and two we delivered at home, alone, and who are healthy and impressively successful.

In business, I was  at the top of the "towers of power" and involved in all the "right" networking groups. But there is no joy or "connection" there- it is all competition. It wasn't until I found myself "In the Rooms" of AA, that I began to know how it feels to connect with strangers because of a similar malady. But when I "dropped out" because I couldn't agree with the 12-Step dogma, I found that those 30-or so "friends" I thought I made in the "Fellowship" suddenly disappeared. In AA, you're either in, or you're out.

I participate with a Zen group online- but the "connection" there often results in a "debate society." What I have found here is a kind, compassionate, and supportive group, where I feel welcome. Thank you, thank you, thank you all.