My name is Pat and I am an alcoholic. Hey, it's a lot, uh, cooler up here in the shade than it was down there in the sun. I feel better already. I'm sober tonight, or this, I guess it's still afternoon, by the living grace of God and the miracle of Alcoholics Anonymous. Before I go any further, I'd like to thank the committee for asking me to share this a- this afternoon and, uh, and thank the, uh, Al-Anon speaker before me. I, that was appreciated. Kinda helps get the mode or the situation going, I think, and get us in a fit spiritual condition, they might wanna call it. Um, you know, I've the, uh, how it works, it says we share in a general way what we used to be like and what happened and what we are like now, and that's all I can ever do in Alcoholics Anonymous, and that's all any of us could ever do is to just share our experience, strength, and hope. And, uh, it's a privilege, I think, any time that we get to do something like that. And I always try to do my best, and my sponsor always reminds me, "Don't screw it up," you know? So, and I think we might be in a little bit of trouble except for Tom's gonna help me out here. At one o'clock, he's gonna get up and leave, you know? I don't have a watch on, so if the rest of you stay, I might keep talking or something, but we'll try not. Um, I came into Alcoholics Anonymous by accident. I got here, uh, I shouldn't have been here, and, uh, and I, I wasn't supposed to be here, and, and I had too many good things going for me, and life was, I thought was good, and I really didn't want to be with you alcoholics. And there are some things that I related to in the meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous that started to change my mind, and some of those things in, uh, when people were sharing, uh, their story, like Juanita did here just a bit earlier, of some of the experiences she went through and some of the things that she was going through, and, and I started to identify with some of those, the emotions and everything like that. And it took me back, uh, long before I was drinking. It took me back when I was a little kid, and, and, uh, I remembered some things from back then. I remembered feeling different. I remembered feeling left out, and, uh, um, I just didn't feel like I was a part of a family. Now, I come from, I don't know how… Yeah, I guess it would be called a big family. Uh, there was 13 of us. And, uh, I also want to let you know that that's not a requirement for Alcoholics Anonymous, but in my, my case, it helped. It got me here earlier. And I'm of a religion that we drink a lot in that religion, and you don't have to be of that religion, but in my case, it surely helped. I think all these things that I've gone through and experienced in the short time of life that I've been in, that, uh, it's necessary. I think whatever we go through is necessary for us to get where we're gonna go. Like I mentioned, I, I remember feeling left out, different, and, uh, lonely, uh, that nobody loved me, nobody cared for me, and, and I really didn't know what the feelings were. I just, uh, today I know that they're feelings of inadequacy and, uh, like I said, loneliness, and, and, uh… It's kind of interesting because I can look back, and in that family, I was probably the most loved kid in that family. I got everything. I, I got the attention. I got, I got the vacations. I got whatever I wanted, you know, the new clothes, the new bike. Uh, it was good, and I didn't feel that, though. Now, you might wonder, what does that have to do with the disease of alcoholism? I'm not too sure myself, except for this one thing that really affected that feeling and those feelings, and that's there's, there's this stuff they called alcohol, and when I would drink it, all those feelings would change. I'd feel good. I'd feel part of. And it didn't matter, I, I could talk with you, I could visit with you in, in, in, in grade school and, and… Now, now, don't get me wrong, I didn't drink while I was in school, you know, classes and everything. I didn't drink a lot. But I remember when I got to drink, it felt good. I liked the effect produced by alcohol. From that time on, it seems like it had the same effect until, well, a couple of years before I got into the program, and that effect was, uh, that change of attitude and that I could do many things that I've always wanted to do. I could be the Boy Scout that I, that I, you know, when we were in grade school, that the rest, some of those other guys were doing and being a great leader and a great helper, helping out their moms, you know, doing things around the house. I've always wanted to do those things, but I never could do it because of fear of what people would think. You know, there's the little wimp. He can't stand on his feet or something or, you know, there's a guy that, you know, he has to do what his mommy wants all the time or… I just could never do what I really wanted to do inside. And when I would drink, I could do it. I could, I didn't care how much criticism or bad time I'd get. I could do the things that allowed me to feel good. And, uh, I liked alcohol. I liked the effect it produced from that point. And I, I did it. I drank as much as I could and as often as I could. So, when, and, uh, in high school comes around, you get the opportunity a lot more, and, and it was a good deal. It was a good deal for a guy like me, for not being able to fit in. Alcohol allowed me to go through school and do some of the things that were just fun, and I, I, I– it was, it was heaven. Yeah. It really, uh, changed things for me. So, you know, I guess I can see when people, you know, they want to quit drinking, and when I did too, or I didn't want to quit drinking. I just wanted to change some things because I found out the, uh, the, what seems to get us all here For some reason, and, and I sobered up, and now, uh, I've seen kids coming in, I guess I was a kid myself, but they were coming in, they're coming in much younger, you know, seventeen. Uh, one of the guys I sobered up was fifteen years old, and, uh, he's got, I think he's at fourteen years sobriety now. And it helped me realize that this disease of alcoholism doesn't matter of the age, color, creed, race, wealthy, poor, any of those things. It just doesn't matter. If you got it, you got it. It's like diabetes, and, uh, there seems to be no cure for either one yet. Uh, some of us, I think, in the program are still trying to shoot for some of those cures, you know, either through the, through the, uh, near beer or some of those things, or, uh, some of us even get the kick on some of the other chemicals, uh, every now and then. I've been fortunate, though. I've never had to do anything other than stay here. I've never had to come back to Alcoholics Anonymous for one reason. I've never left. And if you don't leave someplace, then you don't have to come back to it. And, uh, as I look around, that's, that's quite a blessing, I think, uh, 'cause there's many people that have to go back out for whatever reason it is, go for a few me- uh, more years, hurt bad enough, I guess they call it, and then be able to submit to this program. Well, get me to that point was the, uh, the opportunities of drinking got to be more for me. Uh, college was a great accelerator for that. It, uh, those guys and those– That– Something about that campus, I think it was, the first campus, they wanted to study. They were a studious type of kid, so I quit that college. Now, I had better reasons. I want you to know that. I, you know, uh, my brother was at that other one. That's why. And I had to leave him because they wanted me to be like him, and I didn't want to be like him. He was, he was a student. He was the president of all these organizations, and these kids around campus would come up to me and say, "Are you gonna be like your brother? Are you gonna be the president of this and that?" And I just, geez, I hated that. You know, uh, I was trying to live his life for him, and I had a hard time living my own. I figured a solution for that. I have always, I've always had my own answers. Gosh, I've, I've, I'm, I'm just a brilliant guy. I didn't know how dumb I was until I got here, but I thought I was real smart at the time. Well, I, I was so brilliant, and I did so well that after going through college and after three more years of out there trying to get a job… Well, getting a job was pretty easy for me, but holding one down, staying there for any length of time, that just didn't match my, uh, my character, I guess you would want to call it. You know, there's some other– there's reasons for this, too. I don't want you thinking that I just, you know, couldn't work. These bosses that I always seem to pick, I always seem to pick the sick ones. They wanted me to work. They said, "Yes, I'll pay you, but you gotta get here. You gotta work." And I, I didn't like that too much. I, I always– I did. I, I really thought I was a hard worker. I really, I really, I really thought I was a good worker, and I would work hard. And, and as long as you're looking, as long as someone's looking, I am. I'm a mover. But you, you turn your back, and I just kinda, I just fall apart. I can't seem to even think about work anymore. And, uh, that's kinda hard working for people when they want you to work, and they'll pay you, but you don't, can't quite do it. Well, you know, needless to say, I, uh, spent those three years, and I got many jobs, and I got a lot of experience and different, uh, uh, expertise, if you will. I call them that. And, uh, three months was the longest I ever held be- down a job before got, getting to Alcoholics Anonymous. I thought that was kind of– I was proud of that fact. I was proud that I could get so many jobs, learn the new style, learn the new working ethics, and, uh, fit right in. Um, you know, I thought the resume, when I get the right one, when I get that right employer, when I get the right girlfriend, you know, I'm gonna marry and get the big house, and geez, like maybe build, like, Juanita, I'll build you another one. I, I always had big dreams of that. You know, someday I'm gonna be somebody. I'm still waiting for that someday, I think. And, uh, you know, the white picket fence, and life is just gonna be rosy. It's just gonna be great. And, uh, that's the s- that's the thing that I think I was shooting for, but the methods of me getting there didn't quite match that, uh, analogy. And as, as time went on, things just got worse. I st- I, I, uh, I remember right before the last job I got, I was sitting in the unemployment office, a- and the, uh, the person was behind the desk and said, "Fill out this here. What kind of job you looking for, and what kind of work you'd like?" And all that. And, and it hit me all of a sudden, one of those moments of, I think they call it clarity. Pat, when you get this job that you know you can get, two weeks from now you're gonna be back at this same chair doing the same thing, looking for another job. Maybe there's something wrong with you. That was the first clue that I had that maybe there's something wrong with me. And of course, I brushed that one off real quick. I thought, "Not me. I'm fine. It's them bosses. I just gotta get the right one," you see. Well, I left that place and, and, uh, and, uh, and it wasn't but a short time later that, uh, I wound up in Alcoholics Anonymous. What had happened is, is, uh, I guess the, the alcohol, like I said, about two years before getting here, started to turn. It no longer gave me that exhilaration, that change of attitude, that things are gonna work out okay. And, uh- I didn't know what to do anymore, and, and I about, uh, a couple months before this, uh, this point in my life, I thought, you know what? Those guys in high school and those gals, they were using some stuff called marijuana. And, uh, when I– the, uh, the background I come from, if you ever used marijuana, you were bad. You were hopeless. You were, you were nothing. You were disgusting. And, uh, I wasn't ever gonna use it. And I got to this point for me, knowing all that, knowing that how much the family, you know, Mommy would wanna, you know, make sure her son's doing well and, and being the president of y-you know, some large corporation, if not the CEO or something like that, or maybe even the president of the United States, you know, I thought maybe I'd make it. And, uh, I thought, here are these thoughts for me. I'm ready to do something else. I had an opportunity, and they invited me with, and I was out six hundred miles from hometown. Nobody knew me. I knew nobody. And, uh, I thought, this would be great. And for something inside of me, I, I, uh, I thought, I guess it must have been part of being responsible. I knew I had to get up. It's like twelve o'clock at night, and I had to get up at four o'clock and go to work. And something by that time knew that once I started drinking or doing something that was mood altering, I didn't know what I was gonna do, how long I was gonna do it, where I was gonna do it, and who I was gonna do it to. I was unpredictable. And I, uh, I turned that, uh, what I thought an opportunity down. And, uh, that was about a week later. I gave this relative of mine a call. He had been working with me for about two years, saying little things like, "Why don't you try to quit drinking?" Now, you tell that to some teenager, uh, that knows drinking has nothing to do with their problems. You know, the problems are mom and dad and, and the people I'm around. It just didn't click for me. It's just like, I, I– what I did is I didn't think he heard me right, so I told him the same story of how bad my boss was. And, and he listened to that, and literally for two years, that's the story I used. And I got to this point where I guess I, I was– I surrendered. I was sick, and I was tired, and I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. And the alcohol by that time, it happens to every alcoholic that ever gets to Alcoholics Anonymous, I think. It quits. It turns, and it no longer will do what it used to do. That's the turning point that was for me. And I didn't know what to do, and I didn't even know that it was a turning point. I just knew things weren't quite going as good as I'd like them to. And so he told me, he, he, he shared with me a lot like, uh, Juanita did before the meeting, just in a general way, what he used to be like and what he w– what had happened and what he was like now. And when he was sharing what he used to be like, he had gotten that divorce, and he had lost the jobs, and he had lost everything and, and, uh, kind of out on his own again. And, and, uh, by this time, it was about six months or to a year, he was in a program, and his wife was back, and he got a new job, and he was doing well. And gosh, he seemed to be happy. I couldn't believe it. And, uh, so he shared that with me, and when he started sharing about how good things were and that God has a plan for us, I thought there was something wrong with him. I, he lost it. He just doesn't know what he's talking about anymore. However, I enjoyed the fellowship he was with. What that event happened to be, I didn't know it at the time, but it was a m– a roundup of Alcoholics Anonymous, and it was in a, uh, hotel in Billings, Montana. I was in there, and, and, uh, gosh, you guys were fun. I just– You've made me feel good, and I felt good, and I didn't wanna be there for that purpose. I just wanted to be there, uh, you know, to get a couple things straight, and I'd go back doing what I was doing. It turned out that my brother had asked me before, uh, we left. He said, "Are you willing to do what I did?" And I said, "Yeah, I'd like this." So he told me. He went through, uh, uh, a unit, and then, uh, he's been going to A&A meetings. And I thought, "Yeah, but I'm not an alcoholic." He was smart. He said, "I didn't ask you that." He says, "Are you willing to do what I did?" He had me. So I said, "Sure." And I guess looking back, if I'd have known what was gonna be in front of me, I'd have never done this. I, you know, I would have never… Here we are in, uh, out in the wilderness, you know, and kind of peaceful now, though. But if you'd have– before getting to Alcoholics Anonymous and standing me up in front of you trying to share my life with you, no way. I'd have told some big lies. I might tell some little bit of truths now, but then I, he wouldn't have stood a chance. And as a result of that, I guess that weekend, uh, it started the changing pattern for me. And what had happened is I went through some events and, and I started going to some of these A&A meetings. Again, not because I wanted to, and not because I, I di- I knew I wasn't an alcoholic. I, I just did this 'cause my brother got– cornered me, you know. He, he kind of lied to me or something. And, and, uh, I was going to them, and, and things started happening. I felt a little bit good, but there is something that I think every alcoholic will come to realize, that if you take the numb effect or the numbing, uh, substance away, you get left with raw feelings. And that's where I was at. I didn't use any drugs or I wasn't drinking, but I was miserable. It was horrible. And, uh, a couple months of that, and I got at a turn… Uh, I thought the bottom was before that. That's when I hit the bottom, is that I didn't know what was gonna happen. I'd surrendered. I, uh, I was forced into getting a sponsor, um, bribed into or something, because after one of the meetings I was at, one of the friends I was with, he, or acquaintance, I guess, uh, he called me by my name, but when I walked into the meeting, so I called him a friend. Not too many people were calling me by my name. And, uh, after the meeting, he said, "Have you got a sponsor yet?" And I said, "No, but I've been thinking about somebody." And he said, "Who?" And he pointed down to the end of the table and, and, uh, I, I pointed to the end of the table and, and, uh, said, "I've been thinking about Lee." He said, "Come with me." So we walked down around to the end of the table after this meeting, and he said, "Lee, Pat's got something to ask you." You know, you gotta stand up to your reputation that you're quick and fast, and you can do things and make decisive decisions. I said, "Would you be my sponsor?" And, uh, he said, "Sure." And then he asked me that same question that the Al-Anon sponsor asked: "Are you willing to go to any lengths to get this?" And I said, "Yeah." And he said, "Are you willing to do what you need to do to get recovery and, and to, to, to, uh, have a life that you want?" And I said, "Sure." He said, "Fine." From that point on, we did the same thing. We got, uh… He said, "When can we get together?" And I said, "Oh, well, I'm a pretty busy guy. I got a lot of things going on." I remember thinking that. I had nothing. I didn't even have a job. And I was thinking, "Gosh, I'm busy. I– Let me think. My calendar, when can I…" And, and, uh, he said, uh, I told him a time. He said, "That's fine. That'll work." Okay, we got together once a week, uh, for a couple hours, and we'd read out of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. And the first time we got together, he opened the Big Book, and he said, "Open yours right here, too." And if you do that, the very first page, he said, uh, "What's on the left, right-hand side?" And I said, "Nothing." He said, "Right." He says, "That's what I expect you know about Alcoholics Anonymous. Otherwise, you would have never asked me to be your sponsor." I thought, "Oh, well, I know who's doing what here." He says, "Turn the page." And I did. And on that, uh, left-hand side, he says, "What does it say, say there?" And he said it– I said, "It's Alcoholics Anonymous." He said, "That's right." He says, "That's what we're gonna be doing here is Alcoholics Anonymous." He says, "The first a hundred and sixty-four pages are the program of recovery that is gonna change your life and give you the things th-th… beyond your wildest dreams." He says, "Pat, I'll promise you three things. If you don't drink, go to a regular meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous and call it a home group, become of service to that home group, and do not miss it no matter what, and get a sponsor, you've got me. To stay in touch with me, tell me what's going on, share the good and the bad with me, and run things by me when you have decisions to make." He says, uh, "If you do those three things," he says, "I'll promise you, you'll feel good and clean inside, and you'll have a life beyond your wildest dreams." My wild dreams too were pretty simple. I just gotta get a little job right here next to where I was living, live in this trailer house, and find a good wife, you know? And that was it. I thought, "That's…" Well, maybe some… That was a big one for me, though. Gosh, what a shortfall from where I'm at today. That's amazing. From that time on, from that day that I asked that guy to be my sponsor, my life has not been the same. I've come and I've been introduced to a higher power that I choose to call God today. Seems like most people in Alcoholics Anonymous call him God and, and, uh, it doesn't matter what you call it. Um, some I've heard people call it the Great Spirit, um, Buddha. It doesn't matter. And I choose to call it God because I always wanted to fit in and be like everybody else, and so I have. And through that, I've became to develop a relationship. Now, the relationship had to become with a sponsor first, and, uh, that I could build a relationship and have a little trust with. And once I started trusting a sponsor, then I was able to trust this, this power that we, we seem to talk a lot about, but how do you get in touch with it, you know? You can't see it, can't touch, uh, touch Him, smell Him, taste nothing, but He's there. And, uh, that was a hard one for me, and it still gets to be quite a challenge. You know, and, and, um, I've been the kind of a guy that I, I thought I was gung ho. I thought I was Mr. AA from the very beginning. I thought I was real good and, uh, you know, because I went to a meeting and, uh, I started making coffee, and I thought, uh… I remember one of the first time I made coffee. Alcoholics Anonymous will help you grow if you allow it. It'll, it'll toughen your skin a little bit and, uh, for us sensitive ones, it'll, it'll really make you grow. Um, my feelings were always hurt. I've never had any problem, uh, expressing my feelings. They were like, uh, on, on the outside of my skin. I mean, if somebody looked at me, and if you didn't look at me with a smile or a pleasing thought, I thought, "Oh, something's wrong. Oh, I just might as well, might as well give up. I might as well end life," you know? I was… I just unbelievable. But I made this coffee and, uh, before the meeting, and a couple of people come in to grab a cup, a cup of coffee, and, uh, one guy said, "Ah, that's good coffee. Who made it?" You know, and I kind of sit up in my chair a little bit, and I throw my shoulders back like I did some heroic thing and, uh, you know, and they just said, "Oh, it's good coffee." And next guy comes in, and he said… tasted a little bit, and he said, "Oh, who made this horrible coffee?" Geez, I just wanted to get out of that room. I wanted to get out of AA. I didn't want anything to do with it anymore. And they, my, my sponsor promised me that if I stay with it, I'll be able to develop a little bit of, uh, callousness and in a, in a loving way, though, too. And, uh, that I could be able to handle many things in life that is gonna begin to come my way. You know, and things started to change. Um, I was able, I, I… Oh, by the way, I was about six months sober, and, uh, I wound up getting a job while I was with the sponsor that I had, and, uh, it's the same job I had for nine and a half years. I stayed with that baby. I remember I was coming up on one year and, and, uh, in this office, I had transferred at that time, and, and the boss said, "What are you so happy about? We– I hope you realize that we don't give out big one-year rewards for making it one year, you know, with the company." And I said, "That's okay. That's all right," but for me, it was the biggest reward I think I've ever experienced in Alcoholics Anonymous. It was a good deal for me. And I thought… I remember doing the f- the steps, and I remember after that fifth step, and it says to spend that one hour quiet time, and that's when it dawned or I had one of those most inspiring or one of the more inspiring thoughts. Wasn't the first by any means, but it was one of those that made me realize maybe I was in something that was gonna work, and it was that maybe, maybe AA would work for me. I wasn't sure yet, but I just thought maybe it would. I've always been the kind of guy that would do things to prove you wrong. I do things to be different. I do things to be left out. And I remember I was at a roundup one of these times, and we're help setting up chairs and, you know, taking care of things like this, and, and I sat up in the bleachers watching everybody else do that. And, uh, we got together after coffee, and one of these guys comes to me and says, "Pat, have you ever felt different?" Well, and like Juanita said, you know, these meetings and these things will make you open and vulnerable. I said, "Yeah." He said, "Have you ever wondered why that was?" And I said, "Well, yeah." And, uh, he said, "Well, let me tell you why that is. You do things that are different." I said, "Ah, man." All I had to do in Alcoholics Anonymous to feel part of is to do things that everybody else is doing. If everybody else is setting up chairs, go set up chairs. If others were taking and cleaning up the coffee cups after the meeting, all I had to do is go and clean up coffee cups, and that made me feel part of. Once I realized that, it doesn't take long for me to be a part of, and especially in Alcoholics Anonymous. Well, um, Forest mentioned that, uh, I'm a DCM. That stands for district committee member. That sounds important, doesn't it? Well, I think it does, but it's not. No, no, don't get me wrong. The most important person at any meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous for the purpose of Alcoholics Anonymous is the newcomer, that new person here. They hear something that will get them back to another meeting, that'll get them a chance to have this sobriety. That's what we're here for. That's what I do service work for today. That's what I go to a lot of meetings for today, is I wanna take and ex– take every chance I can to, to see if I can help a newcomer hear something and get out of myself. It's kind of a double reward. You get to help somebody at the same time. When I forget about me and forget about my problems and forget about my busy schedule and the right woman and the big house and things like that, I get to think about life. I get to think about what this thing's about. And as a result of, uh, uh, the sponsor, he said, uh, "What are you doing this weekend?" And, and, um, and I said, "Not too much." He says, "Would you like to come to a district meeting with us?" Uh, he said, "This other guy and I are gonna go down to the t- next town." It was, like, sixty miles away. And I said, "Well, what do you do down there? What is this district meeting?" And he said, "I'm not sure, but maybe you come along, and we could find out together." Now, he knew what a district meeting was, but I didn't. But he wanted me to feel good, so he was gonna hook me, and he did. I thought they needed me, so I went. And I don't remember what was said there and, and, uh, but I remember being there. I remember being there. People were bickering a little bit and squabbling back and forth, and after the meeting, they'd get up and say the Lord's Prayer. And after that, they'd go out for coffee after, and things were good. And, uh, that started the service work of Alcoholics Anonymous for me. And my sponsor always told me and still does yet today, I'll, I'll, uh, I'll run things by him, you know. "Do I gotta go speak over there?" He says, "What are you asking me that for?" "Well, I just wanted to see if anything changed, you know. In twenty years you've been around, you know." And, uh, it hasn't yet. I want you to know that. So whenever I'm asked to do anything in Alcoholics Anonymous, the answer will always be yes. There's no choice for me. I don't have a choice. It's just like with alcohol. I didn't have a choice before getting to Alcoholics Anonymous. I don't have a choice whether to go back and drink or not because it says if we do, you know, death will follow. And that's not much of a choice. And I've also experienced that like in the first couple months of not drinking, not being in the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous and feeling that loneliness, kind of like that walking dead, if you would. And I didn't like that. Since then, I've always said yes to AA and it's done for me what I could not do for myself. Through doing the steps, through the sponsorship and through the service work of Alcoholics Anonymous, yeah, they've asked me to be the GSR after that and asked me to be a treasurer. And I'm originally from North Dakota and they didn't care down here in Colorado. They still asked me to be of service in the DCM and simply means would you be of service for us? We'd like to have these things done in our district and our group. We're wondering about doing this and doing that. Can you help out? And all I have to do is just do the best I can. And if you're ever thinking about the steps, if you're ever thinking about the service work of Alcoholics Anonymous, always say yes. You know and I know that you're never going to be the best doing that, but you can always be the best you can be. Well, I mentioned now I've, two years ago, I've had the opportunity and I used to think this was a real big deal, but today I realize it's a little different than that. Is I started a business on my own. It's going quite well and it produces many opportunities to grow. It's, boy, I wouldn't tell anybody to rush out and do something like that. Give it time. Give Alcoholics Anonymous a shot first. Things have changed for me in my life. Finances have, them promises, them promises have come true for me. Fellowship, financial insecurity, more so than that, that feeling of being comfortable. Gosh, it feels good. To now know that what I did yesterday, I know, and that I can make amends when the day ends. And I can ask God for the forgiveness and to ask what corrective actions to take so that may be fit with this program. As a result of doing that, it's been a tremendous experience for me and this weekend's been, I'm looking forward to it. I've heard a lot about it. I've read a paper in Farmington. You've had this advertised down there. You let people know where we are, where Alcoholics Anonymous is. I think that's important. Not ourselves. We're not important. But the recovery and the process of Alcoholics Anonymous, I think, is very important. Three simple things that I guess is still the guide for me is I don't drink or use any mood-altering chemicals of any kind. No Mary Wonderful or Pocket Rockets or any of those. I've got a home group that I'm a service to. I don't miss that. Thursday nights, you'll know where to find me. It's in the Durango Thursday night group. And I've got a sponsor that I call, and I call, and I think I rely on him more today than I ever have. For some reasons, I've got more to lose today than I ever did when I came into Alcoholics Anonymous. I've got a good life. I've got things going for me that I've just never dreamed was possible. And you also every now and then get the opportunity of somebody asking, would you come out and share with us? I don't know if I shared with you, but I think you people have definitely shared with me, and for that I'm truly grateful. Thank you.
