I know what can await them, if they truly find recovery, because I have been blessed to witness the profound hero's journey that it can be. But first, like all addicts, they have to ask for help.

I used to get really angry with the alcoholics who relapsed. I'd see them shirking their responsibilities just as my father had shirked his. But, as I got older, I began to see that no shirking was really involved. Alcoholism is a powerful foe.

It is a heavy-hearted realization that you must go your separate ways; and you can lick your wounds, go on dating sites, even move 3,000 miles away, but the love, friendship and history you had with this person still takes up at least a little space in your soul.

I love being able to experience the depth and breadth of midlife. I am fortunate to have been able to update my understanding of how powerful the 12 steps can be in my life. I am very different from the 28-year-old I used to be.

The other day I went to the movies and saw Flight, a wonderful expose of an alcoholic airline pilot portrayed beautifully by Denzel Washington. I knew I wanted to write about it, as it hit many similar chords in my life and my struggle with the alcoholic in my life.

These are wonderful stories of painful experiences that turned into joyous "Kodak Moments" of life. They are there for the asking, taking and are very doable.

Following are five key ways in which addiction experts demonstrate a detachment from the most self-evident truths about addiction, and what causes their addiction delusions.

The United States Preventive Services Task Force just issued a report and an advisory that all sensible men and women would do well to take heed of. This panel reviewed a large body of research on drinking patterns among adult men and women.

Taking the edge off with alcohol is a dangerous path to tread if you're not being cognizant of the potential effect it can have upon you. Take me as a prime example: I was an educated, loving wife and mother of two who would never have asked to be in the situation I found myself in.

I knew that my father had been an alcoholic, but as my parents divorced when I was 5 and I had no memory at all of any of my early years (a clue!) and only remembered a mother who adored me, I really thought I'd had a great childhood. I always believed I was unaffected by his drinking!

Let's think of our loved one's continued recovery by imagining a pie, and let's cut that pie into six healthy slices. Here is a list of what I believe represents each slice and the road to a clean and sober, all-encompassing lifestyle.

There is no question that when one loves an alcoholic/addict and watches them blindly traveling 90 miles an hour toward a brick wall of self-destruction, we want to do anything in our power to thwart off the impact. But, please remember, it's your life, too.

We are not doing our loved ones a service by living in fear of their threats, trying to be best buds, believing this time will be different or too lazy to do anything about their actions.

No one sets out intending to become an "almost alcoholic." Similarly, people do not become almost alcoholics for the same reason. There are many pathways into the almost alcoholic zone, and for that reason there needs to be many solutions.

A year ago marks the anniversary of that final realization that life or a partnership with my alcoholic/addict was not to be. The last relapse proved to be my final emotional breaking point.