PO BOX 1980

It's been my privilege over the last thirty-seven years to sponsor a number of women who have inspired me and from whom I've learned incredible things about life. I've heard many of their Fifth Steps. We've shared the celebrations of each passing year of survival: the weddings, the babies, the anniversaries, and yes, the sorrows--deaths in the families, illnesses, divorces. Some of their children have followed them into the Fellowship; some have not, with tragic consequences. I've shared the pain of one who drank after nineteen years of sobriety and watched her determination to come back. I've seen the remarkable triumphs of two who started careers after years of being wives and mothers while still keeping up with meetings and service. And two other women, one who died sober, with grace and dignity, and the other who died defiantly drunk in a fiery car crash, taught me equally important lessons.