At this time, I'm going to give you Gene F. of Little Rock, Arkansas. Gene. Applause Thank you, Jim. My name is Gene Flynnes and I'm an alcoholic. I feel real humbled being here today. I need this program perhaps a lot more than you do. I need to be sober today a lot more than I did the day I walked into the meeting for the first time. Someone asked me if I ever got nervous when I had to talk. I'll guarantee you I do because three fellows have tried to get me to go to the boys' room. And I've already been. But it's natural because you see I enjoy this way of life I have today and I try to the best of my ability to share it. Boy, I feel bad when someone walks out and finds it necessary to drink. And you know, the tragedy is that often at our meetings someone does still find it necessary to find out one last time can I beat this thing by myself. Well, maybe you can't. But I can. I'm an old timer at Alcoholics Anonymous. I heard about this thing in 1940 and I came to my first meeting 20 years ago and I always liked to say it hadn't been necessary for me to drink since. I said I had a meeting in California a couple years ago and one of my old sponsors stood up and said what in hell are you talking about? I said I know I drank for 11 more years but it wasn't necessary. I don't know why I became an alcoholic and I'm not too sure when I became an alcoholic but to me it's not important. I know I hit bottom. Now, we all know we hit bottom. Our problem was trying to figure out when I fell through. I came to my first meeting because I had a brother that had a problem. He called me up and asked if I would drive him to a meeting of some people in Los Angeles. It was the original AA group. This was a group with very few white shirts and suits in it. I looked around when I found out what this thing was that my brother had come to and I said my God, to think he has to come to a place like this for…