The Mirror In the Coffee Shop

Recently I was working with a couple of new guys on Fourth-Step inventories at a local coffee shop. When we arrived, there were only two other people there--the owner and a college-aged woman, studying. We chose a corner table where we could talk without being distracted or disturbing anyone else, and for the next two hours we worked on the Fourth Step together the way John (my first sponsor) had shown me. We read from the Big Book, shared experiences, and discussed examples of the damage we had caused. I also described how, as a result of working these Steps, I was able to get right with others. By then, the shop was closing, and it was time for us to leave. The woman came over and placed a letter in front of me on our table. My first thought was that she was upset about our disruptive talking while she was studying. But this is what her letter said: