From the books ...
Alcoholics Anonymous (Big Book) and
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (12 & 12)
WIFE occurs
65 times
(
Definition from Merriam-Webster Online)
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to display the full page from the Big Book
1.
... wife.
BB p.2,
Bill's Story
Though my
drinking was not
yet continuous, it
disturbed my
wife.
2.
... wife.
BB p.8,
Bill's Story
I
thought of my
poor wife.
3.
... wife.
BB p.41,
More About Alcoholism
I have a
shadowy recollection of being in an
airplane bound for New
York, and of
finding a
friendly taxicab driver at the
landing field instead of my
wife.
4.
... wife.
BB p.67,
How It Works
5.
... wife.
BB p.79,
Into Action
Because of
resentment and
drinking, he had not
paid alimony to his
first wife.
6.
... wife.
BB p.90,
Working With Others
If there is any
indication that he
wants to
stop, have a
good talk with the
person most
interested in
him -- usually his
wife.
7.
... wife admitting his faults and asking forgiveness.
BB p.79,
Into Action
8.
... wife and family.
BB p.35,
More About Alcoholism
This
man has a
charming
wife and
family.
9.
... wife and father-in-law became ill.
BB p.5,
Bill's Story
10.
... wife and I abandoned ourselves with enthusiasm ...
BB p.15,
Bill's Story
My
wife and I
abandoned
ourselves with
enthusiasm to the
idea of
helping other
alcoholics to a
solution of their
problems.
11.
... wife and I decided to go anyway.
BB p.2,
Bill's Story
I
failed to
persuade my
broker friends to
send me out
looking over
factories and
managements, but my
wife
and I
decided to go anyway.
12.
... wife and I saved $1,000.
BB p.2,
Bill's Story
13.
... wife and I sought escape.
BB p.6,
Bill's Story
There were
flights from
city to
country and back, as
my
wife and I
sought escape.
14.
... wife and partner he came to the ...
BB p.80,
Into Action
After
consulting with his
wife and
partner he
came to the
conclusion that
it was
better to take those
risks than to
stand before his
Creator guilty of such
ruinous slander.
15.
... wife as for the husband.
BB p.81,
Into Action
It is as
good for the
wife as
for the
husband.
16.
... wife began to work in a department ...
BB p.4,
Bill's Story
17.
... wife, best friend, or spiritual adviser.
BB p.63,
How It Works
18.
... wife came, scarcely daring to be hopeful, ...
BB p.158,
A Vision For You
His
wife came,
scarcely daring to be
hopeful, though she
thought
she saw something
different about her
husband already.
19.
... wife commenced to admonish him about it.
BB p.135,
The Family Afterward
Seeing this, and
meaning to be
helpful, his
wife commenced to
admonish
him about it.
20.
... wife does not know, should we tell ...
BB p.81,
Into Action
If we are
sure our
wife does
not
know, should we tell her?
21.
... wife gets a divorce and he is ...
BB p.38,
More About Alcoholism
Finally, he can no
longer work, his
wife gets a
divorce and he is
held up to
ridicule.
22.
... wife gets worn out, resentful and uncommunicative.
BB p.81,
Into Action
After a few
years with an
alcoholic, a
wife gets
worn out,
resentful and
uncommunicative.
23.
... wife happily observed that this time I ...
BB p.5,
Bill's Story
Before then, I had
written lots of
sweet promises, but my
wife happily observed that this
time I
meant business.
24.
... wife has endured, and now fully understanding ...
12&12 p.119,
Step Twelve
The
alcoholic,
realizing what his
wife has
endured, and now
fully understanding how much he himself did to
damage her and his
children,
nearly always
takes up his
marriage responsibilities with a
willingness to
repair
what he can and to
accept what he can't.
25.
... wife has visited this house to find ...
BB p.160,
A Vision For You
26.
... wife have had love affairs.
BB p.124,
The Family Afterward
For
example, we
know of
situations in which the
alcoholic or his
wife have
had
love affairs.
27.
... wife, he remarked, "Don't see anything the ...
BB p.82,
Into Action
To his
wife, he
remarked,
"Don't see anything the
matter here,
Ma.
28.
... wife, helped at times by extreme drunkenness, ...
BB p.3,
Bill's Story
There had been no
real infidelity, for
loyalty
to my
wife,
helped at
times by
extreme drunkenness,
kept me out
of those
scrapes.
29.
... wife, his children, his "in-laws", each one ...
BB p.122,
The Family Afterward
The
alcoholic, his
wife,
his
children, his "in-
laws", each one is
likely to
have
fixed ideas about the
family's
attitude towards himself or herself.
30.
... wife, his partner, and his alcoholism by ...
12&12 p.152,
Tradition Five
He
interrupted to
scoff at this and
asserted
he'd
fix his
wife, his
partner, and his
alcoholism by himself.
31.
... wife's hope.
BB p.5,
Bill's Story
Nevertheless, I still
thought I could
control the
situation,
and there were
periods of
sobriety which
renewed my
wife's
hope.
32.
... wife ill, children distracted, bills in arrears ...
BB p.155,
A Vision For You
33.
... wife is forced to become the mother ...
12&12 p.118,
Step Twelve
Very
gradually, and usually without any
realization of the
fact,
the
wife is
forced to
become the
mother of an
erring boy.
34.
... wife is one of those persons who ...
BB p.135,
The Family Afterward
His
wife is one of those
persons who really
feels
there is something rather
sinful about these
commodities, so she
nagged, and her
intolerance finally
threw
him into a
fit of
anger.
35.
... wife may become discontented, even highly resentful ...
12&12 p.118,
Step Twelve
After the
husband joins A.A., the
wife may
become discontented,
even
highly resentful
that
Alcoholics Anonymous has done the very thing that all her
years of
devotion had
failed to do.
36.
... wife may sometimes say she is neglected.
BB p.97,
Working With Others
Your
wife may sometimes say she is
neglected.
37.
... wife may take with the husband who ...
BB p.122,
The Family Afterward
38.
... wife -- misunderstands and nags; likes Brown; wants ...
BB p.65,
How It Works
39.
... wife must become the head of the ...
12&12 p.118,
Step Twelve
If the
man is
affected, the
wife must become the
head of the
house, often the
breadwinner.
40.
... wife next calls saying he is sick, ...
BB p.146,
To Employers
When his
wife next calls
saying he is
sick, you might
jump to the
conclusion he
is
drunk.
41.
... wife nor anyone else stands in judgment.
BB p.135,
The Family Afterward
Though he is now a most
effective member of
Alcoholics Anonymous, he still
smokes
and
drinks coffee, but
neither his
wife nor anyone else
stands in
judgment.
42.
... wife of an alcoholic.
BB p.119,
To Wives
It is
probably true that
you and your
husband have been
living too much alone, for
drinking many
times isolates the
wife of an
alcoholic.
43.
... wife of another serious drinker.
BB p.112,
To Wives
Meanwhile you might
try to
help the
wife of another
serious drinker.
44.
... wife of my mistress -- sex relations; self ...
BB p.65,
How It Works
45.
... wife or child neurotic.
BB p.122,
The Family Afterward
A
doctor said to us, "
Years
of
living with an
alcoholic is almost
sure to
make any
wife or
child neurotic.
46.
... wife, or his friends.
BB p.95,
Working With Others
He should not be
pushed or
prodded by you, his
wife, or
his
friends.
47.
... wife or husband.
12&12 p.86,
Step Nine
48.
... wife or no wife -- we simply do ...
BB p.98,
Working With Others
Some of us have
taken very
hard knocks to
learn this
truth:
Job or no
job --
wife or no
wife -- we
simply do not
stop drinking so
long as we place
dependence upon other people
ahead of
dependence on
God.
49.
... wife or parents whom for years he ...
BB p.82,
Into Action
But he is
yet a
long way from
making good to the
wife or
parents whom for
years he has so
shockingly
treated.
50.
... wife's parents.
BB p.4,
Bill's Story
We went to
live with my
wife's
parents.
51.
... wife placed their large home at the ...
BB p.160,
A Vision For You
52.
... wife settled your difficulties is worth any ...
BB p.100,
Working With Others
The
story of how you and your
wife settled your
difficulties is
worth
any
amount of
criticism.
53.
... wife -- sex relations; self esteem (fear).
BB p.65,
How It Works
54.
... wife should fully understand his new way ...
BB p.99,
Working With Others
The
wife should
fully understand his new way of
life.
55.
... wife's slender purse when the morning terror ...
BB p.6,
Bill's Story
Sometimes I
stole from my
wife's
slender purse when the
morning terror and
madness were on
me.
56.
... wife to applaud while I started out ...
BB p.3,
Bill's Story
We went at once to the
country, my
wife to
applaud while I
started out to
overtake Walter Hagen.
57.
... wife usually goes on doing the best ...
12&12 p.118,
Step Twelve
The
wife usually
goes on doing
the
best she
knows how, but
meanwhile the
alcoholic alternately
loves and
hates her
maternal care.
58.
... wife was at work.
BB p.8,
Bill's Story
59.
... wife was informed that it would all ...
BB p.7,
Bill's Story
My
weary and
despairing
wife was
informed that it
would all
end with
heart failure during
delirium tremens, or I would
develop
a
wet brain, perhaps
within a
year.
60.
... wife -- we simply do not stop drinking ...
BB p.98,
Working With Others
Some of us have
taken very
hard knocks to
learn this
truth:
Job or no
job --
wife or no
wife -- we
simply do not
stop drinking so
long as we place
dependence upon other people
ahead of
dependence on
God.
61.
... wife who adopts a sane spiritual program, ...
BB p.130,
The Family Afterward
62.
... wife who trembles in fear of the ...
BB p.104,
To Wives
But for every
man who
drinks
others are
involved -- the
wife who
trembles in
fear of the
next debauch; the
mother and
father who see their
son wasting away.
63.
... wife will never come back for one ...
BB p.99,
Working With Others
In some
cases the
wife will
never come back for one
reason or another.
64.
... wife would leave elated by the thought ...
BB p.161,
A Vision For You
He and his
wife would
leave
elated by the
thought of
what they could now do for some
stricken acquaintance and his
family.
65.
... wife would leave him alone, he'd soon ...
12&12 p.152,
Tradition Five
He
shouts that if his
partner would
treat him
better, and his
wife would
leave him alone, he'd soon
solve his
alcohol problem.
Passages from the Big Book Alcoholics Anonymous
and the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
are reprinted with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.
The A.A. Preamble, copyright ©
The A.A. Grapevine, Inc., is reprinted with permission.
Permission to reprint does not in any way imply affiliation with or
endorsement by either Alcoholics Anonymous or The A.A. Grapevine, Inc.
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