Dick was two weeks sober and making notes for the next edition of the Big Book. His sponsor took it away and sent him to AA meetings to listen
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Dick got sober in May 1977 after a postponed trial exposed something his legal skills could not fix: he could not guarantee what condition he would be in when the case finally reached court. Months earlier, he had collected AA pamphlets, come home drunk, and announced that the program did not work. Back at a Marietta clubhouse, he was assigned a sponsor whose answers seemed far too simple for an educated attorney: don't drink, tell the truth, and go to meetings. Dick describes reading the Big Book with a drink in his other hand, waiting for the dramatic experience in Bill's story, and later making notes for a new edition instead of looking for what applied to him. His sponsor took the book away and told him to listen. From there, this funny, practical AA talk follows his work through the Twelve Steps: making a decision and correcting course, uncovering resentments, sharing an honest Fifth Step, becoming ready through action, and learning that amends mean change. If he knocks over a neighbor's mailbox, he owes a mailbox, not merely an apology. He also tells how helping a woman in early recovery avoid a threatened prosecution allowed her to continue toward medical school. Years later, she writes to say she has followed his suggestion to use her skills to help others without pay, bringing volunteer pediatric care to children in Appalachia. Dick sees a result far beyond anything he intended when he wrote his lawyer's letter. The closing section traces decades of sober life through a rebuilt marriage, children born, a son's cancer and recovery, another son's death, his own health problems, his wife's first year in AA, and their first grandchild. Through grief and happiness, he returns to the same actions: he didn't drink, and he went to meetings. His final message is to hold on to honesty through the discomfort until freedom comes.
Dick S. from Marietta, GA speaking at the 40th North Shore Roundup in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada - April 23rd 2011
Music: Deep by KaizanBlu
