When the AA seed is planted
In the summer of 1983 I was working as a supervisor electrician with a construction/renovation company. I was married with two young kids and had a serious issue with my drinking.
My boss and director of the company requested I come in and see him the following morning. My head was all over the place, running ridiculous scenarios through my racing brain. The more I consumed the wilder the scenarios became.
I turned up at the office on Friday morning with a hangover and with a different outlook from the scenarios I had run in my racing head the previous night.
To my surprise the boss asked me if I had a problem with my drinking. I asked him what he meant – I knew this was not the appropriate time to fob him off with a cheap joke like “yeah, two hands and one mouth”.
I felt his eyes were penetrating my brain and reading my mind. I admitted for the first time that yes, I had a problem and we spoke for a while. I now know that he was sharing and I was getting identification, which was scary.
Unknown to me this man was a long-time sober AA. He offered to take me to a meeting that night and I agreed. What was the reason? To keep my job, my wife, and my family.
I attended the meeting with this man that evening and he handed me over to another long-time sober gentleman, whom I started attending meetings with all over our area.
I lasted 10 months, getting identification from everyone in the room apart from me. The inevitable happened and I returned to the bottle, causing mayhem everywhere I went and filling the family home with this all-consuming illness. I reckon that the only way my marriage survived was that I worked away from home for most of our married life.
I eventually threw in the towel on 28 January 2018 after a lot of damage done to everyone I met and also myself – 35 years of hell. Police cells, car crashes and A & E departments. I really thought I was insane, which I was to a certain degree.
During a contract as a civilian contractor in a military camp in Afghanistan I hit my bottom. I came home on leave, went to AA, joined a group, got a sponsor and turned my life around – a totally new way of life which I embraced with both hands. I am now six and a half years’ sober and love the person and the life I now have.
I was five years’ sober when I got news that a long-term friend who worked with me in my original company had sadly passed away. At his funeral, while waiting to be ushered into the chapel of rest, I saw a face I recognised but I was having difficulty putting a name to it. Then it hit me like a baseball bat – it was my old boss. I had written a letter to him as part of my Step Eight but never had a reply.
I approached him and introduced myself – to his surprise, as he did not recognise me either. I explained I had sent him a letter some years ago and he replied “I’d better check my inbox”. He had since moved and never received my letter.
We spent some time talking and I was able to tell him I was five years’ sober due to the seed he had sown 35 years ago. I was so grateful to be able to thank the man who introduced me to this wonderful Fellowship. What a feeling! We shook hands and gave our thanks to AA and continue to carry the message to the still-struggling alcoholic, a day at a time.
I am so grateful for the wonderful life that the Fellowship has afforded me, and continue to grow in my sobriety.
Yours in the Fellowship,
Alex S
Pather Wishaw Tuesday night Group