The dude who lead the meeting this morning was celebrating his two year birthday (if you're from California) or two year anniversary (for us Midwesterners). That's a long time to stay sober no matter where you're from. He shared a story about leaving a company where he drove an over-the-road truck, explaining that he needed to stay connected in Alcoholics Anonymous and the time away from home was interfering with his recovery. He recently rejoined this company - at their request - and was called into the owner's office on his second day back. He walks in, a little wary, to find all of the staff gathered around a two year birthday cake. After the off-key singing of Happy Birthday, several people came up and shared that they were also in A.A. or had a family member in A.A. or one that needed to be. Our anonymity is important to us because not everyone gets what we're doing in here but it is amazing how many lives alcoholism and drug addiction touches . . . . and ruins.
On my 15 year anniversary I attended a Black Sabbath concert. I was nervous about attending, almost cancelling at the last minute and eating the cost of the ticket. When we showed up (I went with a friend in A.A.) it was immediately apparent that all was well. What I saw was a ton of people my age who never managed to quit drinking/using and it was not a compelling sight. I didn't think: "Wow, I wish I had kept drinking/using." Base on what I saw these people weren't thriving in life. I don't think a lot of them had early meetings the next day. They didn't seem to be too worried about the consequences of a late night of debauchery in the middle of the week. On the off-chance they did have a job to go to I don't think they their work required a sharp mind and a steady hand.
The concert was great, by the way. The nice thing about not spending all of your money on alcohol and drugs and lawyers and car repairs is that you can buy really, really nice seats. We had a blast although we couldn't find our car after it was over. We were so flustered by all the drinking and smoking and drug-selling going on in the parking lot as we made our way to the venue we totally forgot where we parked.
I went to a meeting in Mexico City where I met the man who ran the cafeteria where I ate lunch every day when I was going to college in Philadelphia.
I met a woman at a meeting in Munich who lived a couple of miles from my childhood home in Cincinnati.
I went to a meeting in Huntsville, Alabama - after telling an elaborate series of lies to a coworker who accompanied me to this technical training so that I could sneak off with the car we had rented - and met the wife of the man who was running the training session.
I ran into a guy on the street in Stockholm that I had seen the previous day in an English speaking A.A. meeting. I thought: "Here I am, 5000 miles away from home, in a foreign country, in a city I've never visited before, and I just spent some time talking to a guy I met yesterday."
I don't think we realize how many people are affected by these diseases, either directly or indirectly. And I'm glad that some of the stigma attached to them has ebbed away over the years. "I'm in Alcoholics Anonymous" doesn't shock people like it used to.
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