Mining for Gold

Several years ago, I was diagnosed with a rare form of Parkinson’s, which is progressive and affects all the systems of my body. Soon afterward, I was given the gift of clinical depression—and these with 17 years of sobriety! I was afraid and suicidal. I was at the “jumping off place.” The phone weighed 1000 pounds, and although my friends in the Fellowship were numerous, I was beginning to isolate. Then my wife and I divorced, and I had to give up my dog due to my inability to care for her. I was unable to work and went on disability. So this is what they meant when they spoke in meetings about hitting a bottom in sobriety. I called my sponsor for help. We started at Step One and proceeded to take the Steps in order, using the “Twelve and Twelve.”