A Friend of Bill W. 

On December 31, 1988 I called a friend named David and left a message for him. When he called back, he asked how I was doing; I told him fine.  He said he would be right over. He arrived with a woman and they began to talk to me about a way of life that they believed was second to none. The only requirement was a desire to stop drinking. On January 1st, I picked up my only white chip and began a journey that was beyond anything I could possibly imagine.

During my years in recovery, I have had a life beyond my wildest dreams. Now it is my turn to give back to the universe what I so freely received.  My hope is that eventually this site will offer access to the accumulation of information I have received over all my years of sobriety.

It's 2008 and I wish everyone who visits another year of wonderful sobriety.  This year has seen a lot of challenges for me, so I have not had the opportunity to build the site as quickly as I would like.  We lost my husband's sister to lung cancer, and my husband, Charlie, has been diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer.  I survived the year a day at a time with my sanity and my sobriety intact.  I will be celebrating 19 years today (12/31/88).  So my thoughts have turned to the last year of my drinking and the first year of sobriety.  They were the two worst years of my life, but I don't ever want to forget them.  I also don't want to do them again so this renews my spirituality and motivates me to continue to do what is necessary to stay sober.  So my goal this year is to focus on Emotional Sobriety and expanding this site so that it may help more people.  Let's see how I do!

Well, 2008, turned out to be a very challenging year.  I spent a good deal of time working on Charlie's medical problems.  They seem to accumulate by the day.  We have, however, had numerous blessings over the last year in relation to his medical care.  I am considering writing a seperate piece just about that.  I have learned over the year, love, patience and tolerance can be achieved even when I am being assertive and acting as a medical advocate for Charlie.  I have also settled nicely into AA in Apopka.  I have become very involved in the noon time meetings here and I am having a good deal of fun.  In particular, the women I have connected with are absolutely wonderful.  We now actually have a women's meeting at noon time.  Throughout the year, I have been with some very special friends, including a new sponsor.  This relationship has been the most rewarding in terms of my spiritual growth.  By the end of 2008, I felt an extraordinary sense of wonder at having 20 years of sobriety, a wonderful sponsor, and a group of women friends who are an honor to know and love.  The gifts, the blessings, the challenges, the miracles, the relationships, the spiritual growth, the expansion of the dimensions of the Spirit of the Universe in my life -  the feelings that I have regarding all of these things are difficult to express.  The closest I can come is a quote from Alcoholics Anonymous:

"We have found much of heaven and we have been rocketed into a fourth dimension of existence of which we had not even dreamed. The great fact is just this, and nothing less: That we have had deep and effective spiritual experiences* which have revolutionized our whole attitude toward life, toward our fellows and toward God's universe. The central fact of our lives today is the absolute certainty that our Creator has entered into our hearts and lives in a way which is indeed miraculous. He has commenced to accomplish those things for us which we could never do by ourselves."  (Big Book, page 25).

The Year 2009 is coming to a close.  I cannot believe that another year is coming to a close. It's November 2009 and my 21st Anniversary is around the corner again.  The year 2009 has been filled with a mixture of challenges, of all shapes and sizes.  I have had some incredible blessings through this web site that have brought untold gifts into my life. I have had an enormously rewarding and educational experience with the women that I am connected to at the noon time meetings in Apopka.  They really are an extraordinary group of women.  This year I became an honorary grandmother.  I have a three month old granddaughter named Regan.  In March of this year, after doing an act of service for a fellow alcoholic, I started writing inspirational poems and narratives.  It was a very powerful spiritual experience.  Some of the writing that I have done is featured on this website.

Charlie has had an incredible year of miracles.  For 35 years, Charlie has lived with an awful limp in his left leg.  It was 3/4 inch shorter than the other leg.  It is just something he has lived with.   Last year I did some research and found a surgeon who does knee replacements in Orlando, one of the best.  Unfortunately neither he nor the second surgeon would operate because Charlie has cancer.  However, as usual, my higher power stepped in and found us the perfect surgeon to do the surgery.  Charlie had knee replacement surgery and the surgeon also straighten out Charlie's leg.  It is utterly fantastic, what is this but a miracle.  Then in September, we were told that Charlie's cancer was in remission.  I cannot even begin to explain how overwhelming and completely unexpected this news was.  Just when I think I know what my higher power can do, something like this happens and I am convinced that I will never know the magnitude of her power.

Love to all,

Diane

Alcoholics Anonymous

(www.aa.org) 

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