Ross T’s Story

Date: January 20, 2026 

Interviewee: Ross T. (S.S. July 5, 1987 by the grace of God found while attending the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous)

Interviewer: Rhiannon B. c/o Kaylea G. 

Edited: March/April 2026 

 

 BEFORE A.A. 

 

 Please tell me a little about your life before you found A.A. When and where were you born? What kind of childhood did you have? 

I’m Ross, I am an alcoholic. I was born in 1957 in Windsor, Ontario a small industrial town of about 200,000 people now.  I come from a large family, eight siblings, three brothers and five sisters. We lived in a two-story turn of the 20th century house with a full basement and two interior staircases, front and back.  

Our West Windsor home was purchased by our grandfather, a steady employee at the Ford Motor Company.  

I remember early on hearing my fathers raised voice on occasions which disturbed me. I just wanted to grow up as quick as I could. My mother was a very loving homemaker taking care of us and managing the money.  

My father liked to go to the Southwood Bar often after a good payday. Both parents were home most nights while raising the nine of us. Some uncles were very helpful while building cupboards for the kitchen. As we grew family ties seemed to drift apart; that I noticed quite young.  

I got to see a little bit of the country on an occasional truck run with my father. We vacationed annually at the Pinery Provincial Park on the shores of Lake Huron. I think they loved us the best they could, so we were fortunate. 

In 1986 I attended Expo 86 with acquaintances but with a hole in my soul flew to off Europe. Looking for an answer I continued to behave in the manner with what I knew! Drinking at several waterholes across the countries while sightseeing. And so it went.    

 

When and how did your drinking get out of control?  

I started smoking and drinking heavily at about 15. We were getting some of the older boys to go and get us beer. Growing up I attended an Irish/ Italian Catholic school and church. Some families made their own wine. The religious boys never hung out to smoke and drink. One of the Italian boys brought some wine out to Bondy Public School where we used to hang out after hours. He was different than the other guys. He was a bit wild, a real fighter and influencer. I was highly vulnerable to drinking and smoking at an early age, say 13 on the smoking, 14 for starting opportune drinking. I think that’s when it really took off with me. My first drunk, I blacked out. I didn’t realize how potent the Italian wine was. You have a little bit. Oh, this is good. It’s no big deal, you know? Then boom, before I knew it, I was passed out or sick and in no shape to even stand up. So that was my first big experience with alcohol. I had to be carted home. My drinking was out of control by the time I had reached 16-17. Ages 18-21 there were blackouts, grey-outs and geographical cures in succession. 

I’m going to have to be a little more careful with my drinking. It’s not that I didn’t want it to stop. It’s like oh, this has an effect that I like, but I’ve got to moderate it a little bit more. Just take it and slowly enjoy it. Because I didn’t realize how powerful it was. I thought I could do that, but I found out when I was 16-17, that gasoline and alcohol don’t mix. I had a 650 Triumph Bonneville and I was at the Embassy Hotel drinking underage (legal was 18 years of age) in East Windsor on Tecumseh Road. I had my father’s 66 Country Squire wagon. I was the first family member to get insurance on his car because I was determined to make adult things happen early. Nobody else thought of this, but I did. 

Following the Embassy Hotel drinks with my girlfriend we went back to my place to get the Triumph. She worked at Burger King, and my motorcycle sounded like a good idea at the time. So out it came from the barn and off we for a ride. We stopped at her Burger King so she could talk to her girlfriends. I thought oh, I’ll go for a scoot in the parking lot that was under construction. They were putting a Zellers mall expansion in. The parking lot wasn’t finished so there was no overhead lighting. I thought I had everything under control along with those drinks from the Embassy. I had the bike wound right out in second gear going into third and boom. I see this curb in front of me, right in front of me. There’s no way I could stop or turn away. I hit it at 90 degrees and rolled the bike end over end.  

The ambulance came and took me to the hospital. I thought I could control this thing. There’s no way I could control it. I found out then, but that didn’t stop me from getting out of the hospital to go down to the bar. I went down there with a buddy and almost got in a fight because there was a guy that was mad at me for something I did at the Riviera Hotel. It was about that time I was in an occasional fight, some worse than others bearing head stitches. What was important to me was getting out to get those drinks and being comfortable again because I hadn’t been to the bar for a week or two. 

On another occasion after a visit to Uncle Sam’s disco bar, I was charged with dangerous driving in Detroit, reckless driving and then driving without a helmet. These sorts of things were a result of trying to find that sense of ease and comfort. Being in control and finding out well, I’m nothing, I’m not in control.  

At age 19, I had moved to the West Coast to work after quitting 2 years of college. 

 

When did you know you had hit rock bottom?  

I didn’t know I’d hit rock bottom until I was about 30. I had hit a bottom at about 26 but continued the maintenance program which I was trying to figure out in Al-Anon. I was in denial for so long. I had gone backpacking around Europe with a friend. Of course, you had to taste champagne in Champagne and drink the wine in France. The ouzo in Greece, the wine in Italy, and the beer in Germany. Had bought a Volvo Station Wagon in England, right hand drive, and drove it all over the place. Stayed in hostels and bed and breakfasts. I was so drunk in Greece, I thought this is the end of the road. We had sold the car in Italy and then flew back from Frankfurt. I’d hit some kind of bottom when I got home. My mother, my sister and my girlfriend were all living in my one-bedroom apartment. My girlfriend moved out. My sister moved out. My mother suggested I did go for some counselling.  

Before that, I had phoned AA in an upstairs Vancouver office. “Oh, can you make it down here?” I said, sure. Yeah, I can do that. I was clean. Hair was combed. Light colored clothes on, bubbly. I said Bob, I don’t know what’s going on with me? Bob F, Vicky, and Rick were there. I was directed to talk to Bob! “Bob, do you think I’m an alcoholic or what is my problem? I didn’t know him very well. He was an older Irishman with a cane. I feel like when I’m in the company of strangers like that, older men, I’m always so transparent and a little guarded. He said, “What brings you in here?” He took me to the back room. Vicky and Rick stayed out there and so I had a one on one with him, eyeball to eyeball. I said, do you think I’m an alcoholic? This is what’s happening and i explained my situation. “Things like I don’t see what the sense of living is anymore. And I don’t know what’s going on.” 

 He said, “You don’t look like an alcoholic. Why don’t you go try some more controlled drinking?” Oh, I did not want to hear that. And at that moment, I felt so powerless. And he didn’t give me a choice for about five minutes. It felt to me like an eternity. He said, “Go down to the bar and have a drink. And one only. And then go home.” And then pause, silence. I’m sitting there going, oh geez. This is not why I came down here nor wanted to sign up for! I wanted him to tell me, or somebody there to tell me, that I was an alcoholic. I would lay out all the things that I’d done, all the wrongs that I did, all the accidents that I had, all the people I hurt, all the jobs I didn’t carry through with, all the unfinished business, and maybe they would tell me that I was an alcoholic. But instead, he said, “The next day, go down to the bar, and have one drink and then go home.” Another pause, another… oh, dear. More of my mind going around and around like a squirrel cage. “The third day, go down to the bar, have one drink, and then go home. If you can do that for 30 days, you’re probably not an alcoholic.” Well I thought I could probably control that and do that, you know but that’s not what I had come down here for. @#$%^ 

Then he said “Or, come down to the Alano Club on Sunday night, there’s a guy getting a one-year cake. I’ll be there; it’s my home group. The meeting’s at such and such a time. It’s in North Vancouver.” Those were my options. So, I chose to go to the meeting. And I didn’t go there bubbly and… excited. I went there because I felt like I had to, because I was either going to do this thing, or I was not going do what he had suggested.  

I think it was maybe a Saturday night. I sat near the back, maybe third or fourth row from the back of about 15 rows with a centre aisle. It was a long room with a podium. Bob was in about the 3rd row on the aisle and looked back and waved to me. I waved to him. This is so uncomfortable I thought. And I’d been to AA meetings before. First one I went to when I was 21 in Windsor, I got my Big Book. And then Pitt Meadows had a breakfast meeting that was combined Al-Anon and AA. I went there for a couple years. So I met all kinds of alcoholics. I spoke from the podium as an Al-Anon. I had all this experience, all this knowledge, but so full of denial. Until that day I met Bob F. That was the last time I ever had a drink. 

 

RECOVERY 

 

When did you first hear of AA and from what source?  

Well, I think it was a Christmas meeting I went to when I was 21 in Windsor. I had just gotten back from Brazil. I was down there for a couple months vacationing after working on the BC Railway construction project for coal mining extraction. Then I came back from Brazil. I have never been so sick. I was about 21 and my mother had arranged for us, my father and I, to go to an AA meeting. She must have seen it before me. It was a Christmas party, so it was in December, and I got my first Big Book. So that’s the first time I really experienced AA. I don’t know if it was the first time I’d heard about it. It was the first time I’d experienced it. And there was a guy named Ken P. He gave me my first Big Book.  He started crying while giving me the big book called Alcoholics Anonymous.  He told me, “You know, my brother died of a disease that was incurable. We don’t have to do that.” I still have the book. Even though I’d moved several times from the age of 20 to 30. I still had that book. That’s my main book today that I use. My mother had also been going to Al-Anon for a period, so it was probably mentioned in the house quite a bit and a lady my mother connected with let her know about AA. So that’s where I first heard of AA. 

 

Can you tell me about your early sobriety, your work through the steps, and the problems you’ve had in those first days of learning the AA way?  

I went to a meeting called Pitt Meadow’s Breakfast, where we were doing a little bit of service, making the breakfast for people that came. It was a real family-oriented meeting, so there’d be kids there, husbands, wives, Al-Anon and AA. It was a very upbeat and positive meeting. That’s where I started the meetings, but I didn’t really get steadily into it till I was 30, and after a bit I was like oh, this is for me. This is where I belong. I had two diplomas, I had travelled all over the place, and I didn’t see any light at the end of the tunnel until I came into AA. I was also going to candlelight meetings, very inconspicuous, and trying to hold on to a normal life with my technical skills and jobs and so forth. My best buddy was already in AA. I ended up following him in here, met other guys, and we’d walk shoulder to shoulder. We’d heard about this step study that was starting with these old timers, so we decided to join.  After that first meeting, we were just like, wow, this is exactly where we want to be. They were talking the Big Book. They were reading from the Big Book, talking about what it said in there and telling us how they felt. And we got to hear that. We didn’t know who these guys were. There was a mix of short term and long-term sobriety. You had everything in this mix, and there was only about I’d say eight of us in that group. We went to one guy’s home, Mel F out in Maple Ridge, and he had the meeting right there on his back deck of his house. He made coffee. We could use the washroom. There was smoking outside. There was no sitting on the fence. It was like, you’re in or you’re out. You know, you can be part of this, or you don’t have to be. It’s up to you. Again, just like they said, we can’t decide for you. And we were all in 100% when we walked out of that meeting. As soon as we were out of earshot, wow being a part of this is so great. We were so pumped about the message and the acceptance. 

And the connection with these guys that were so convicted. They were so compliant and decisive. There was no going back. This was a one-way ticket. So for me it was whoa, this is where I want to be. I want to be where these guys are. Just like I wanted to be where my dad was when I was a kid. This is where I want to be with these guys, because they’re real alcoholics that are… alcoholics of our type. I didn’t know what that meant at the time. But now I know what it means. I’m an alcoholic of that type. This type that we’re sharing our stories. We’re transparent. We’re working towards, you know, a better life of honesty, open mindedness, willingness, and getting away from taking, stealing, cheating, and lying. So it was, it was … something I’d been looking for that I couldn’t find in my church. I couldn’t find it at Banyan Books down on 4th, in Kitsilano. I couldn’t find it in meditation groups. No, it wasn’t there. It was here. It was right here with these guys. And this was not an AA meeting. This was a Novalco. From Prince Albert or somewhere, and I still use that format. We still use it today at our Langley meeting. 

That first meeting that I went to in North Vancouver for me, was a big deal, a game changer! 

  

Did you have a sponsor when you first came in? What type of sponsor did you have?  

 When I first came in, I had an AA friend younger than I was. We were both acquainted with several AA folk. There were a lot of elders that I looked up to and could talk to. But I sort of used my best friend Dave, as my sponsor at the time because he came in just ahead of me, and we used each other for sponsorship early on. Then I got to know a man named Dennis, Big Book Dennis, as my sponsor from Port Moody. He was by the book and a great example of how the program worked. We went to minimum security corrections at Allouette or Haney early on for several meetings or months. 

 

How many groups or meetings were in existence?  

When I came in, I was living on Trinity Street near the Cannery restaurant just off McGill Street in Vancouver. There seemed to be quite a few meetings, you would have two or three meetings at night in the lower mainland at least that were favourable.  Sometimes had to drive a ways to get to a meeting that was favourable to attend. Not sure how many meeting were available as I was coming out of the fog then! 

 

How did you find out about meetings at the time?  

 I think we had a small directory where the meetings were. It wasn’t that big you know, but there were enough meetings to get to. You had a choice. You had a lot of meetings or enough to choose from anyway. You also had the private meetings at the time, too. Like the Novalco’s. Which I thought were, you know, ‘with’ my disposition or mentality. I wanted things fast. So I wanted to get to being in that focus group that wasn’t an AA group, but it was using the Big Book. That was really what I wanted at the time, because I’d been farting around for three or four years, getting to know myself a little better, and getting out of the denial. After the candlelight, I joined this men’s 12 and 12 meeting. Kerrisdale Men’s. It was adjacent Queen Elizabeth Park. There’s some facility there, a community centre where they used to have the meeting. It was a big room, bigger than the North End Alano Club meeting, much bigger. A lot of space. You could borrow their 12 and 12s, and there was a lot of guys. This was an AA group, and they were talking about the steps and the traditions. It was another place I landed that I went, oh, this is it. This is where I want to be. So that was a Monday night group I’m pretty sure, and the Alano Club was the Saturday night group. So the Monday night group was nice because it was a focus meeting on the steps and traditions and it was a way of life that I’d never seen before. It was pretty cut and dry. It’s like, either you want it or you don’t, you know. Of course, you do sit on the fence a lot of times, finding the commitment and the conviction that you’ve never maybe experienced in your life. Being decisive has a lot of rewards, because you can let go of a lot of old behaviour.  

 

Can you recall the formats used at some of these early meetings? How were they run? 

Yes, absolutely. The candlelight one was one of the first ones that I went to. It was subtle, and, you know, it was very anonymous. Let’s put it that way. So it wasn’t long that I left that and went into that Novalco group. The Pitt Meadows I kept attending all along. The format of that Pitt Meadows was interesting because they had a chairpersons, AA and Al-Anon combined which was sort of against the AA rules from both the Al-Anon and AA perspective, But Jesse D was there long after her husband Henry passed. They would alternate with speakers, one from AA, one from Al-Anon. You’d be eating this breakfast that we’d prepared, sausage, scrambled eggs, and pancakes, while this was going on. It was all very cohesive, because you’re eating together. So you’re hearing both sides of the story and you’re seeing people that were repentant for the way they had lived with alcohol. Then when I got to the men’s Novalco group, it was just run by one or two guys. And even those guys had a spat about smoking during the meeting and that sort of thing. There was always a little bit of adversity in meetings. The one that ran the smoothest would be that 12 and 12 Kerrisdale Men’s. It was very decisive. Very orderly. You knew what to expect. There were no surprises. There was no fighting. I met a lot of guys there that I still know to this day and that are still around.  Kerrisdale mens was just out in the open and these were all guys that worked. They were painters, they were all trades. They were productive, useful. You had that example and attitude of move forward, positivity, objective thinking, and talking throughout the meeting that was a dynamic part of changing an attitude that was in denial or blaming. For a few decades afterwards I enjoyed the challenge and openness of podium meetings. More recent its been early morning discussion reading groups both in person and on zoom. 

 

Which individuals were especially prominent in your sobriety? 

Well, I’d say Dennis, because he was the early on one. And there was Ed, check up from the neck up, he was more recent. Between Dennis and Ed was Frank, he was a great long term sponsor. Frank was my longtime sponsor, and he had so many connections. He knew all the people I knew from those early Novalcos, he knew all the old timers from around the lower mainland. He’s in his 40’s sobriety time now. And buddies, just buddies in the program that were equally sober and sponsoring each other, we do a lot of walking and talking shoulder to shoulder. And I’d forgotten about that for quite a while till I saw my old friend Dave D, and he reminded me of that while we were in a meeting talking about it. But there were many periods that I didn’t really have a sponsor.  Even today, my sponsor is a normie, and he’s very encouraging. His name’s Murray. He’s a busker, and he’s always trying to encourage people. He’s very positive. And I guess he’s kind of my sponsor. In fact, the last time I seen him he said, “Write down 20 of your fears, and the next time we’re playing chess, let’s have a look at them.” And I’ll write down 20 a month. So that’s the kind of sponsorship I have now. I’ve got a lot of people that I know, who I play chess with and a lot of people in the program that I know I could call. So I do a lot of listening and a lot of walking with other guys. Mostly guys, I’ve worked with a few women over the years. I love all people. I love working with all people, and everybody has something to offer. God has designed us all the way we’re supposed to be. So, I feel that if we just accept life on life’s terms, we can go a long way. My wife is a big help. 

 

Would you tell me about your experiences sponsoring others? 

That’s been a real roller coaster, to be honest. I love sponsoring other people. But I’d have to say that at least 50% of my sponsees have been reluctant to engage fully in what I have to offer, to what God has to offer them, to what the Creator has to offer them, and to what this program has to offer them.  I’d say that there’s at least 20 to 30% that get this program. They’re committed, they do step work, we do step fives together. We walk shoulder to shoulder. There’s probably about 10% or 5% that get it right away. They’re still in touch, they’ve just moved on and they’re a big light in this program. So I think it’s designed that way. It takes what it takes. For some people, it might take them till they’re on their deathbed to wake up and say, “Okay, I get it now.” You know what I mean?  Working with sponsees  teaches you something about yourself. They teach you tolerance, they teach you patience, transparency, restraint, limit setting. I’ve had to set limits with family members and sponsees. But I don’t normally turn people down if they want to meet, even if they’ve done the deepest, darkest, worst thing in the world. I still will meet with people. I still work closely with a few guys and distantly with a few guys. I’ve learned that I have to just let go of as much as I can, because I’m kind of the type of guy that… is easily engaged. When working with others, we can go through feelings of hurt when people lie to us. Sometimes they’re dishonest and other people get hurt, and watching them lose their families, and their kids, and their houses. It’s just really heart wrenching to witness.  Even though, you know, once they’re gone and you’re finished talking with them and walking with them, you can let it go, pray about it, and turn it over real quick. I tend to be able to do that. That’s the type of person that I am, because this program has taught me that I just need to get connected with my Higher Power, with the Creator, and start behaving accordingly to what I’m getting back.  A lot of times, they’re very transparent, and they tell you what they’re doing. But they don’t tell you 100%. Give you 95. But they’ll give you that other five in a step five sometimes. You can… let them know they’re forgiven, and that they’re loved, and maybe how to overcome certain things, but we’re not qualified. We are not qualified to deal with certain people. There are certain people, we cannot help. They need outside help. But that’s important to know, for anybody, that we can’t help everybody. 

 

How and why did you get into service? 

Through sponsors, groups and to make progress. At three years sober. I was a member of the Centre Group, the New Westminster on 14th Street at St. Aidan’s Church. This is 35 years ago. Frank and Kathleen P, they were members of that group. Someone would say, “Oh, do you want to be the secretary?” No, I don’t want to be the secretary. And then Kathleen said, “Can you be the secretary?” I said, oh, all right. I’ll be the secretary. And that was the start of being of group service after Pitt Meadows breakfast meetings. Frank was the great sponsor because he was an Irishman. He was a good listener and long term committed elder. I probably don’t have an Irish bone in my body. But he was one of those real alcoholic Irishmen full of love. Frank and his wife , two beautiful people. And if you knew Frank, you’d know his wife, cause they were always together. Kathleen, she was a schoolteacher. And she had been in that group forever too. Frank and Kathleen. They were like pillars. The two pillars. The bridge, that everybody walked over. They taught me how to get into service, how to attend step groups that were AA oriented. Not Novalco’s, but AA oriented step groups. We would all meet at St. Peter’s Hall. It was a huge hall, and we’d break off into four groups and do the steps. And it just transformed me. It just taught me how to be there early, shake hands, talk to people, start to share. Even up till then, even now, sometimes there’s a facade, even now. And you have to break through that. And she broke through it. We used to go to her house and have tea. I met my wife in the building that I live in. When I was talking about marrying my wife to Kathleen P she was very encouraging, and she gave me a bouquet of daisies to give to my wife. She was forever grateful. When we got married, she gave us a clock. We still have that clock.  All along the way, I learned how to always be doing something. Always do something, one thing, if you can. Be engaged with sponsors and spondee’s, long timers, and newcomers all the time. So that was my first job. I had that job for two years in that group because I moved to New Westminster when I was five years sober. I was going to the district meeting there, District 34, and I became the DCM real quick. It was so small a group of service people that I met the DCM, and within three to six months, I was the DCM. There was about three or four GSRs that would attend these meetings. It was only a six month or one year term because I moved to Surrey. So I had to pass the hat. Then out here I got involved in Phoenix Men’s Group. Most of it was just making coffee, opening and closing the door, and secretary, chairman, whatever. We used to have two men up front, and now it’s down to one guy up front. I don’t attend the meeting anymore there. I’m more into my early morning Saturday meeting service. 

 

What service positions have you held during what years?  

Making coffee, set-up, greeting, secretary at Centre Group, DCM District 34 for 6 months to a year.  

Then there was a long pause of being engaged with the district or BC Yukon. Because I had been at the Phoenix Men’s setting-up for years.  Intergroup representative and Literature Chair for 2 years. I got to being developed somewhat and subsequently a bleeding deacon is what happened. It was like, okay, hold on here. I started to be that when I was the GSR there for a period, but not very faithfully. Then I became the GSR at Winers and Old Timers here. Nobody else wanted to do it. So I took it on. And then more recently, Jeff has taken it on. I have attended some Quarterlies and Assemblies. I’m not real computer savvy. I found a role that I really like right now, and that’s Remote Community chair relieving Caleb. I’ve learned a lot. I have a daughter that’s very good on computers, so she has kept me going. Joanna our DCM has really been helpful, committed and consistent. RC’s has been much more comfortable and steadier than being on Zoom at Quarterlies. Jeff’s doing that currently. He’s younger by years and possibly more computer savvy. No matter what age there is something we can all do. We always encourage people to become an Intergroup representative, an alternate GSR or treasurer. Greet set up chairs or make coffee. I used to go to those early morning meetings out in White Rock at 8 AM or 7 AM and I was so encouraged by the enthusiasm at those meetings. There’d always be the guys from the Launching Pad treatment center. I thought, that’s a great environment for them to go to. So I’m trying to get that vibe happening in Langley here. I try to be a member among members and get people to fan into different positions and be a part of the district because I’ve never seen a district so lively as this one. I mean, I go to that district meeting myself to fill in for someone. And to just sit there and be objective and keep it moving forward. There is a lot of work or positions available. This is where you get adversity in these meetings. Sometimes you’re the voice that just puts things back into perspective a little bit because of your experience. One tries to keep things in perspective and objective. The list is long regarding service position in and around AA.  

 

 What special occasions do you recall during your time of AA service?  

Well, there was this BC Yukon event happening at the convention centre downtown. I was dating my wife at the time, and she was coming home from work. She saw a flyer on the bus floor about this convention for BC Yukon. She normally wouldn’t have noticed but she picked it up and looked at it. I ended up inviting her to go to that with me. So I really remember that one. But more memorable was in my first year of sobriety. The North Shore Roundup at the Hyatt Regency. Peter W was speaking there, and he was a Catholic priest. There was also a guy that had been in prison for 20 years at that convention that I bumped into and hung out with a little bit, and I had a spiritual experience after I dropped him off at his place. Peter W’s message was so crystal clear to me, because I had a Catholic background and he said things like, “It’s not how much you drink it. It’s what it does to you.” And he told so many good jokes.  It was very memorable, because I was not alone at that convention. There was 2,500 people there. I really felt like I was transformed there with Peter’s message, and with this fellow that I had met that had been in prison. So, those experiences were very memorable you know, right or wrong or whatever they were. I learnt that there’s a Creator out there for all people. Not just Catholics, not just convicts. There’s a Creator that loves everybody. You know, that was…that was what I felt after that, and I did let him in. He was useful. So He transformed me that first year. I became a different person. And I do take my old self back a lot. But I think basically, I’m on that road where I’m decisive, and I’m committed to doing the next right thing. Helping other people and working with others. Service gatherings are all special with special people in attendance. I’ve got a long way to go and promises to keep with God, my family and friends! 

 

How was AA changed if it has since you first found it?  

Well, that’s a good question. In many ways, I don’t think it’s changed at all. The first 164 pages are still intact. I do a lot of reading of the Grapevine literature. The same problems exist today that they had 30,40 and perhaps 80 years ago. Sure, technology has changed and the way we transfer some information about feelings, but any new world order does not super cede faith-based recovery. There are still the same issues regarding a belief system as there was 38 years ago from my perspective. Much of the AA literature and in particular Steps 2 and 3 and Traditions are all still intact. We still are really an all-encompassing and a loving society that is neither political nor religious. So I really feel that it hasn’t changed a whole lot. I see so much architecture, colour, texture and opportunities for service and fellowship. We have a legacy of old timers that we can turn to and/ or reflect on back. There are tapes, CDs, literature, books and computer links for the younger folk. There’s everything there that anybody can use. Our history is important. But you can’t get the feeling that is available without attending, to walk the walk or roll with it.  

There’s a lot of people that complain about things that have changed, differences and it’s not the same. There will always be naysayers. I think if one doesn’t progress on the steps and traditions with a sponsor and a home group they are missing it. Transmitting the messages we receive from the Creator based program would be difficult or very slow at best. Ask yourself, what have I done to contribute? What can I do to be useful? 

While keeping my family close, I’ve been blessed here in AA and do not take the fellowship for granted. I take more time off now. It’s been busy with dental works that are ongoing as of late. If I can be doing nothing and not busy, so be it for a while. That’s good too. If I can get that in for five minutes to one hour per day, then that gives me a good connection time to regenerate, heal and get help daily. 

A better question may be, how have I changed since I first came in? One thing that I want to mention and is important to note is that I am still cleaning up my mess after 38 years! Rule 62! Every day, I have to do a little something to clean up, before I can go out and help other  fellow’s! Don’t give up, suit up, show up and be patient. Trust God, clean house and help others as Dr. Bob mentioned. There may be an order for success, different for each recovering alcoholic. “Let’s not louse it up, keep it simple”.  

The best change for me currently has been chairing the Remote Community Committee. It’s not about being happy for an alki! Lunch box and a big book. And so it goes …. just for today! Thank you.  

Ross T  

References: Alcoholics Anonymous Book/ Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions/ Grapevine literature.