“Several 24 hours ago…”

Today, April 24th, 2020 is a celebration that I appreciate on a level I can’t fully express. Why?

We’ll get there. but first you have to have the context.

On a not-so-chilly December night I walked into my first meeting for people who feel powerless when it comes to the adult beverage. 

The first person to speak to me was the wife of one of the “old-timers” in the meeting. She took one look at me and said, “... right in there,” as she pointed to a room to my right. 

I walked in and sat down. A man who would later become one of my greatest champions of sobriety sat beside me and asked me a question he mostly likely already knew the answer, “Is this your first time in a meeting?”

I’ve quoted the comedy brilliance of Robin Williams over and over in telling this story. I “looked like a deer in front of a Peterbilt.” It didn’t take much for this man to deduce it was my first time.

I sat through the meeting and listened as person after person shared on their desire to stop drinking. As I listened I did a lot of comparing and contrasting until I heard the simplest sentence that defined me at my core. 

The sentence isn’t what is most important. What’s important is that I found a connection. I found a similarity to the room and to the community of people sitting ‘round that table. 

When the meeting was closing they did the thing I’d completely forgotten about in all the dramatized re-enactments of meetings in television and film. I forgot about those little coins that are handed out. 

A woman in the room began asking about various lengths of sobriety and I truly don’t remember if anyone accepted any of them. That is, until the end when she asked if, “anyone wanted to try this way of life one day at a time?”

She looked my way as I shot up and walked over to her. She handed me a coin with “24 hours” on it. Then she gave me a hug. 

Today she celebrates 9 years of sobriety and her experience gives me strength and hope.