The No. 1 Disappearing Book

As I reflect upon the loss of my grandsponsor, Bill, earlier this year, I now realize the true intrinsic value of one of the gifts he gave me in early sobriety. As if I had a choice, Bill took me to my first district meeting when I had just two months sober. At three months, we returned to the same meeting when he announced he was stepping down from his service position and had found a replacement. After the next district meeting, my third, I walked out of the meeting having been elected CPC/PI chair. I didn’t even know what the letters stood for. I felt totally inadequate. Actually, I was scared to death and full of resentful thoughts, thinking there was a conspiracy. My sponsor and Bill said they had my back, that I would learn AA is a “we” program and not to worry about it. I’ve tried not to look back since.

The next two plus years flew by after I had recruited a small CPC committee of AA volunteers, utilized the CPC kit, and implemented a number of service projects. One of them included placing “Drinking Problem?” cards with our district hotline telephone number written on them, in doctors’ offices and hospital reception areas. Another was the placement of copies of the Big Book in all the middle and high school libraries. These two projects had something in common: the cards and the copies of the Big Book disappeared continuously. Librarians told me the Big Book was their number one disappearing book, so it must have aroused a tremendous amount of interest with the students.

We also had the opportunity to participate in a variety of health fairs using the area’s display, which led to additional professional inquiries and some very interesting one-on-one conversations. Hospital meeting startups, legal, judicial, law enforcement and medical assistance opportunities just seemed to keep presenting themselves and kept us involved. Each sector wanted to have printed meeting schedules for the district, so we provided those.

As the weeks grew into months, I realized all of these activities were not only helping to keep me sober but were giving me a hands-on learning experience about being of service. I learned that when I serve others I think of myself less, which allows me to grow. There are no words to express the feeling I get when I do this kind of service.

As Bill’s health began to deteriorate, he told me to keep doing what I was doing and the program would continue to come alive and stay alive in me. So after my term as CPC/PI chair, I continued to stay active in service and close to CPC activities, volunteering whenever and wherever I could. Today, I have the privilege of continuing my involvement in CPC as the newly appointed CPC/PI coordinator for our area. Who would have ever thought? Not me; no way!

Thanks Bill, for the gift of leading me to service and introducing me to CPC work. It’s an experience you just might not want to miss.

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