D.O.S.: February 4, 1947

February 4, 1947: my first AA meeting in Chicago, Illinois. I was thirty-four years old. As I walked out of the meeting, I asked myself, Could I possibly stay sober for twenty-four hours? Could I turn my life and my will over to the care of God, whom I did not understand at all? Could I ask him to restore me to sanity? I felt I could never believe in anything the program was asking me to do. To stay sober, to attend meetings, to follow Twelve Steps that were the exact opposite of my present way of living.