bcdeifrhijklmnopa Com Volume 30 Issue 3 Fourth Quarter LINEExperience, Strength and Hope In this issue The Birth of ACA The Birth of ACA . 1 Beginning a Speakers by Omer G. Bureau . 2 he founding of Adult Children of Al- ACA Speaker Recordings . 2 coholics 37 years ago was subtle but also The Languages of Our Childhood . 3 dramatic.T We mark the official founding of From Our Treasurer . 3 ACA/ACoA in the spring of 1978. That’s when Best Practices . 4 cofounder Tony A. penned the 14 traits of an Looking Down on All My Adult Child, which is also known as the Laun- Fears . 4 Untie the Knot . 5 dry List. Från en kollega som talar With 260 words, the Laundry List is the svenska . 5 foundational document of our fellowship. The Classic ComLINE 2007 . 6 writing of the traits set us on a course that in- Up and Down Meetings . 6 Musical Chairs . 7 volved an amicable separation from Al-Anon to become an autonomous The Language of Family . 7 Twelve Step fellowship with its own meetings, literature, service structure Strengthening My Recovery . 8 and primary purpose. Are You Sabotaging Your The events, leading up to the writing of theLaundry List, began about Relationships? . 8, 9 Shhh . 9 1976. That’s when a group of Alateens in New York started holding a spe- Anonymity . 9 cial-focus meeting. As Tony recalled in a 1992 interview with ACA WSO, What “Organization” Means the Alateens were mostly 20-year-old members, who would soon be mov- To Me, Tradition Nine . 10 Is Your Past Holding ing up to Al-Anon; however, they did not want to move up to a fellowship You Back? . 10, 11 that was primarily focused on spousal issues and spousal drinking. At these early ACA-link meetings, the Alateens wanted mostly young people in attendance. However, after awhile, about 1977, they invited Tony to the meeting after hearing his AA story, which included his alcoholic About the ACA ComLINE upbringing. Although he was 50 years old,the age difference did not matter The ComLINE is published quarterly because of the language of identification. by Adult Children of Alcoholics® World Service Organization, with one free Tony described these early meetings as occasionally chaotic and some- report of the Annual Business Confer- times volatile. During the meetings, the Alateens angrily shared about ence (ABC). The ComLINE is intended as a communication line from WSO abuse, neglect, and abandonment. They were angry not only at the alcoholic to the fellowship of ACA around the but also the non-drinking parent as well. world, and as a forum for the fellow- ship to share recovery. The ComLINE In his interview with ACA WSO, Tony recalled how these early meet- slogan is “Experience, Strength, and ings began to flounder due to a lack of focus. Consequently, the Alateens Hope”. The opinions expressed are those of the individuals writing the confronted Tony to provide structure and focus for the meeting. On the articles and do not necessarily reflect morning after being confronted, a Thursday, Tony wrote the Laundry List. the opinions of the ACA fellowship or WSO. “It was as if Someone Else was writing the List through me,” Tony © 2015 Adult Children of Alcoholics®/ said. Dysfunctional Families World Service Soon after the Laundry List was written, Tony recalled how represen- Organization, Inc. This edition may be reprinted in its entirety for free distri- tatives from Al-Anon showed up and informed the group that they could bution to anyone in Adult Children of not read the Laundry List because it was not conference approved literature. Alcoholics or other Twelve Step pro- grams. Otherwise, no portion or por- The group members voted to not give up the list and then to strike out on tions may be reproduced without the their own. This was the 1978 group conscience that, when coupled with the written consent of the copyright owner: Laundry List, gave birth to today’s ACA. ACA WSO, Inc. Post Office Box 3216 Torrance, California, 90510 USA adultchildren.org Happy 37th Birthday, ACA ! adultchildren.org/comline Ed. Note: Tony A. died in 2004 in Florida. He was 77 years old. News and Views Beginning a Speakers Bureau by John M. s the Speakers Meeting pointments to listen to speaker Bureau had more speakers Coordinator for my In- stories in order to match speak- than invitations, we developed tergroup,A I e-mailed a flyer to ers with specific requests. eight-hour marathons with other Adult Children of Alco- Our Speakers Bureau in- speakers addressing themed holics (ACA) to inform them vited ACA old timers and new- topics on the inner child, life about an up-coming speaker comers to speak at our ACA skills, sponsorship, relation- at a local meeting. One ACA meetings for members to ex- ships, money, and the ACA friend shared her experience, perience what audiences might Twelve Steps. Attendees do- strength, and hope about how hear. ACA members attended nated $10 at the door. Money her Intergroup developed their the special speaker event at and relationships were hot ACA Speakers Bureau. Since schools/colleges, hospitals, in- top ics! The marathon was used my term limit is over for this sti tu tions, and other ACA as an Intergroup fundraiser for commitment, I thought I’d pass meetings in order to get a feel projects to help carry the mes- on the following information: for the audiences. Special event sage. At our Annual ACA Re- Our Intergroup Office requests often wanted speakers treat/Convention, we supplied Chair received many calls for to take five or ten minutes to speakers who shared their sto- ACA members to speak to introduce a topic, to tell them ries of experience, strength and schools, Hospital and Institu- about the ACA program, or to hope. tion (H&I) panels, and to oth- just briefly tell their stories in Forming the Speakers Bu- er ACA meetings. The diffi- order for the audiences to hear reau has been an incredible ex- culty in locating speakers was new perspectives. perience. Perhaps your group, reported to our Intergroup, so Each month our ACA intergroup, region or state we created an ACA Speakers Speaker Bureau was invited to could form a Speakers Bureau, Bureau. send a different ACA speaker too. State ACA Speaker Bu- At an ACA Speakers to a nearby jail/rehabilitation reaus could connect with one Bureau orientation meeting, center to be represented on a another, opening up endless ACA members reviewed Tra- Twelve Step program panel opportunities to share posi- ditions guidelines and collect- consisting of one member from tive growth with others in this ed contact information, top- Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), powerful program of recovery. ics, forums, topic preferences, Codependents Anonymous Please feel free to send me and speaker availability. We (CA), Narcotics Anonymous (c/o [email protected]) also noted travel distances to (NA), and Adult Children of your experiences in speaking on schools, hospitals, jails, prisons, Alcoholics (ACA) to share behalf of ACA at meetings, com- and other ACA meetings. Our their stories with inmates. munity venues, or in hospitals & ❧ Speakers Bureau made ap- When the ACA Speaker institutions. Thank you! J. M. ACA Speaker Recordings Below is a list of a few links to recordings of ACA speakers for you to enjoy listening to their experi- ence, strength and hope. • ACA Convention 2005 http://www.acaconvention.org/html/2005_speakers.htm • ACA Convention 2006 http://www.acaconvention.org/html/2006_speakers.htm • ACA Convention 2007 http://www.acaconvention.org/html/2007_speakers.htm • ACA Convention 2008 http://www.acaconvention.org/html/2008_speakers.htm • ACA Convention 2009 http://www.acaconvention.org/html/2009_speakers.htm • Arizona Intergroup http://aca-arizona.org/aca-speakers/ • ACA Oregon Speakers http://acaoregon.com/2008-aca-recordings/ The current version of this list is available athttp://acaintergroups.org/ACARegionsWiki/index. php?title=Speaker_Recordings 2 ⎜ Fourth Quarter • ACA ComLINE News and Views The Languages of Our Childhood id you know updated to include “The Flip Side of The Laundry that WSO List”, “The Other Laundry List”, and “The Flip Doffers nearly 100 Side of The Other Laundry List”. These lists are pieces of free lit- the focal point of The Laundry Lists Workbook, erature in more which will be available for purchase in October. than a dozen You can also click on the “Select Language” languages? link to see how WSO is committed to translat- Did you know that adult children around the ing the ACA literature into the languages of our world are continually adding to this by translating childhood. Our Multi-Lingual ACA Literature literature daily? And that much of this is available page links to dozens of PDF documents in both on our website at no charge? Here’s how to find US Letter and A4 formats to download and print, it: with new pieces added regularly. Go to adultchildren.org, and click on The FAQ’s have been translated in various at the top of the page. languages, they can be found at http://www.adult- Here you will find a treasure trove of valuable children.org/faq. You can then click on “ Select information, including “ACA Is…” as a web page, Language” and pick a language that is bolded. and a “Sample Meeting Format” to download Translated books for purchase can be found and edit for your own meetings. “The Laundry at shop.adultchildren.org/. Look for even more to ❧ List” link goes to a page that has been recently be added soon! The Editor has heard this: “Most ‘inner children’ need to read in the language of their own childhood to really understand information.” From Our Treasurer n keeping with the WSO Board’s intent of maintaining transparency in all financial matters, monthly reports are posted on the website’s Repository at http://www.repository.adultchildren.org/ Iwso-treasurer.