The people who crumble between the second and third years seem to fail because they reach their goals. The real tragedy is, they simply didn’t understand that their “me and my family” goals were just not big enough goals. They got what they wanted, and something inside was still empty and craving, because “me and mine” is not enough to make a whole, happy human being.
It’s a blessing to be able to come together as a community of like-minded souls. We’re choosing to engage in our community so that we can remember who we are and who we are to each other, and serve not from hierarchy or separation but from love and compassion and the understanding that we are one.
Wayne had resolved not to die a drunk and he hadn’t. And we both, to the best of my knowledge, had gotten something precious and unexpected in our recovery that had escaped us in the depths of our alcoholism. We had over the last year of his life become friends. In spite of our inadequacies in so many other areas, we had been able to form what Bill Wilson had called a “true partnership.”
Before I used to think that I was too young to be an alcoholic. I learned that there is no age requirement for membership in a program that will save my life. I didn’t have to be uncomfortable, like I stood out like a sore thumb sitting in a meeting. I want other people my age or younger to walk into their first meeting and to be welcomed the same way that I was welcomed.
