PO Box 1980

I have been actively involved in AA for fourteen years. I am presently incarcerated in New York State. I read the December 2002 Grapevine article "Tough Guys Don't Surrender" and related to the contents. For years, I made meetings but half-stepped my program and did not listen to my sponsor. The result was I couldn't remain sober. My sponsor always told me I had to surrender in order to become sober, and I told him "surrender" was not in my vocabulary. Finally, I blew the dust off my Big Book and read it. I finally surrendered, got involved in the prison correspondence program and I began working my Steps. I can only make one meeting a week in prison, and I rely on my Higher Power or a call to my sponsor in the moments I need to share. My sponsor told me to keep it clean on my side of the street, and my Higher Power would handle the rest. I finally surrendered, and now I'm clean and sober and very active in AA.