passin' by, and glad of it

Hullo,

Hoping it is ok to stop by. I have never had a drink but have attended many years of Al-Anon and also open AA meetings.

For a few years I lived in Kansas. Over the tracks outside town there was a little A.A. clubhouse. It was loud and chaotic and had a tin roof and ratty carpet and a lot of pickup trucks outside. It was packed with people, coffee, arguments, prayer, Big Books, ash trays, and blue smoke. It was open for continual meetings nearly 24/7. And you know, it was a place of miracles where people were saved by other people every single day. There were genuine rough-talking kind people who were not afraid to reach out to any stranger in any condition, or to say what needed saying if it was going to help reach someone in trouble.

One speaker there described walking into his first meeting. He pulled out a gun and said "A judge sent me here. I hate your guts. I want to shoot you all dead right now." The others said "Ya ya ya. Keep comin' back, Sicko. And if you expect us to give you any coffee, then sling that piece behind the door with everybody else's."

Last week I found a book in the trash called "Came to Believe." It's a fine book, now I carry it everywhere. It makes me miss those old meetings years ago. I have a big problem with depression, so I just checked the Big Book out of the library. It's good to read the program again and work on being sober from my own dejected thinking.

Anyway, it is nice to see this forum and the support and wisdom!

Much respect,
Autumn Tweet