When I quit drinking in April of 1988, I was only 20 years old.

Before I got sober, most of my time was spent drinking and thinking about how I should be elevated to the appropriate stature that I so rightly deserved.

In my second full month of sobriety, I thought I would challenge myself by taking a trip. I planned to visit an old friend in Boston.

The shiny, red sports car had to go back. I was unemployed, broke and could not make the payments. My new sponsor suggested I return it to the car dealer, so I did.

“As a result of these Steps” was the hiccup that bored deep.

When I came through the doors of AA this time, I had no use for your God. I had attempted this program in my 20s.

I was not spiritual growing up; the concept of God was nonexistent for me. My parents grew up in very different religious traditions.

I love my home group. I’m not trying to say it’s the best in the world, because my hope is that everyone feels that way about their own home group.

When I first got sober I had what I like to call the “he, she, they” disease. My life circumstances were  everyone else’s fault, not my own.

Last night at our Big Book meeting I regularly attend, there were several new members. It’s a small meeting, as many literature meetings can be.

Having a controlled view of the world from my bedroom, I read another news article on my computer about the progress of the pandemic. It’s my daily check on the numbers in my state.

In the early days of the COVID pandemic I didn’t understand how much it would affect recovery and how AA members would need each other more than ever.

It was mid-March of 2020 and we AAs were starting to get nervous, as one meeting after another was shutting down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

My uncle Mickey was an oldtimer in AA. Unfortunately, no one in my extended family recalls exactly when Mickey got sober.

I moved eight years ago from a very active AA community that was large and service-oriented to a community where, for years, meetings have been run by one person or an exclusive group o

A friend asked me to help with moderating an inventory for a large AA group in a major city in our general service area.

When I was not even two weeks sober, I went to our local discount store to pick up a few things. I took my 3-year-old great nephew with me. I was babysitting him that week.

Thinking that I know what’s good or bad for me is not my concern. God will decide this. My mind doesn’t have the capacity to understand God’s plan for me or anyone else.