I moved to Israel from Florida with my wife Judi 16 months ago.I was born in North West London and built a large business which our family sold in the mid-eighties. Since that time we lived in the USA, lately near Palm Beach.
In 1984 I came home at lunch time from work to find Judi and four pals chatting away.
"We are talking about you," they told me. "You drink too much and it's interfering with your life and you need help."
I was shocked but eight weeks later I was admitted to a rehab in Plymouth, five hours by train from London.It was a drab villa and I shared a room with the aristocratic heir to a major bank.
I was told to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. This I reluctantly did and it is now 34 years since I have been attending AA meetings.
In Israel there are meetings in the major towns most days in English and Hebrew.I myself just started a new group at Lala Land Beach, Tel Aviv, at 8am. Surprisingly, there are no English-speaking meetings in or near Netanya and I would like to help start one.
Meetings are of mixed age and gender and informal with about 12 attendees. We follow a program called the "12 Steps" developed in the USA in 1937. There are 19 million copies of our literature worldwide.I myself have attended meetings in China, Mexico and on cruises.
Please call me if you would like to chat - it's all anonymous:053 934 0031
Mervyn