“A solid sense of brotherhood and sisterhood gives us strength when we feel fear or despair and helps sustain our power of love.” — FEAR – Essential Wisdom for Getting Through the Storm

In 1982 I finally quit drinking and drugging. Having been to some AA and Al-Anon meetings, I was determined to never join the cult. I found some of the people to be phony, others to be preachy, and still others to be just plain sick. At that time in my life I had a job, car, a place to live, and a girlfriend. And I was sober. So I thought, “I’ll be great now!” Little did I realize that I gave up the one thing that made me feel ok – drugs and alcohol.

So I white knuckled it – for 7 years. By the time I came into the rooms, I felt more alone and desperate than almost any other time in my life. I was finally ready to put principles before personalities; to suspend my contempt prior to investigation; to open my mind to the possibility that something greater than me was out there. And thus began the start of a journey that gave to me a life beyond my wildest dreams. My aloneness disappeared because I was embraced by all of you—my brothers and sisters in fellowship—loved and accepted in a way that was almost overwhelming.

To each and every one of you who has touched, and continues to touch my life with your love, thank you from the bottom of my heart… ILML! 

– JamieQ