“This may come as a surprise,” I say, pausing to let my words settle over the crowd. When the suspense is dramatic enough for my taste, I continue, holding the microphone closer, “but I was not always the poised, confident woman that I am today.”

I expect a few people to faint, or at least gasp, but I am greeted with blank stares. Frowning at the reaction (or lack thereof), I keep going, but with a little less enthusiasm. “No, ladies and gentlemen, I have not always been Giselle, as you know me. At one dark point in my life, I was called..,” I cringe, “Spazzy.”

Instead of sympathetic, caring faces, a roar of laughter greets me. Angry and slightly defensive, I explain, “It’s only because on the first day of high school, I was one of those overexcited freshmen, so a senior dubbed me Spazzy. And it stuck; it is not as if I chose it!”

The laughing continues, so I decide it is has been a long enough lunch break; time to start the meeting. “Anyway, I now call this meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous to order!”