William G Borchert - 1000 Years of Sobriety: 20 People x 50 Years

1000 Years of Sobriety

1000

Years of Sobriety

20 People 50 Years

William G. Borchert and Michael Fitzpatrick

Hazelden Publishing
Center City, Minnesota 55012
800-328-9000
hazelden.org/bookstore

2010 by William G. Borchert and Michael Fitzpatrick
All rights reserved. Published 2010
Printed in the United States of America

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwisewithout the express written permission of the publisher. Failure to comply with these terms may expose you to legal action and damages for copyright infringement.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Borchert, William G.
1000 years of sobriety: 20 people 50 years / William G. Borchert and
Michael Fitzpatrick.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-59285-858-3 (softcover)
ISBN 978-1-59285-991-7 (ebook)
1. Alcoholics Anonymous. 2. AlcoholicsRehabilitationUnited States
3. AlcoholicsUnited StatesBiography. I. Fitzpatrick, Michael, 1959II.
Title. III. Title: One thousand years of sobriety.
HV5279.B67 2010
363.292092273dc22
2010017832

Editors note
These stories are edited transcriptions of interviews. Alcoholics Anonymous, AA, the Big Book, the Grapevine, AA Grapevine, and GV are registered trademarks of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. Hazelden offers a variety of information on chemical dependency and related areas. The views and interpretations expressed herein are those of the people interviewed and are neither endorsed nor approved by AA or any Twelve Step organization.

THERE IS AN INSIGHTFUL SANSKRIT PROVERB that proclaims: Yesterday is but a dream and tomorrow only a vision, but today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope.

What a gift it must be to experience this way of life for more than fifty years, as have those whose stories are contained in this book.

Looking ahead, five decades can seem like an eternity600 months; 2,600 weeks; 18,250 days; 438,000 hours; or 1,576,800,000 seconds. But looking back, five decades can seem like a series of fleeting moments we may either cherish or disdain.

However, lived well in sobriety, fifty years can produce an abundance of good works, a plenitude of loving friends, the sharing of great spiritual wealth, and the creation of a solid path for others to follow as they tread that road of happy destiny.

It has been an enormous privilege to write this book and the stories of twenty people from around the world who have lived the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous one day at a time for more than fifty yearsand are still carrying this great message of recovery to others.

Spending time getting to know these wonderful members of the fellowship has not only been a truly rewarding experience, but an honor as well. Each one of them clearly demonstrates the adage: Freely you have received, freely give. Saved from an almost certain alcoholic death more than fifty years ago, they have spent these past five decades or more carrying the message to othersa mission that has undoubtedly touched thousands upon thousands of other alcoholics and their families.

Although their stories were at times sad and tragic, they turned out to be some of the most inspiring testimonies one could possibly imagine. Now, with the publication of this book, their experiences will continue to bring hope and unconditional love to the world long after their service on this earth is finished. For that we can all be grateful.

It is our wish that you will be inspired by their stories and challenged by their accomplishments.

BILL BORCHERT AND MIKE FITZPATRICK

THIS REMARKABLE COLLECTION of the personal stories of twenty present-day AA old-timers could not be more timely or valuable. As the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous reaches its seventy-fifth year, authors Bill Borchert and Mike Fitzpatrick make available to the two million members of AA a treasury of insight into AAs past fifty years that could not be achieved in any other fashion. Further, since the early sobriety of all these members coincided with the later days of the earliest AA old-timers and founders, including Bill Wilson, this book creates a bridge for us to experience the entire AA story.

I take personal delight in commenting on this rare collection because many of these men and women have become personal friends. Some were heroes of mine in my early sobriety. They are living icons in the particular areas of the country where they presently reside. Sadly, the stories of many other icons have faded with their passing. I know of several whose stories I deeply wish had been reduced to writing. There is something comforting and enduring about the written word. Tapes and CDs of AA talks are stimulating and valuable. But the written story brings a sense of history and permanence with it.

While reading, we can take our time to reflect on and enjoy particular passages. I am sure that, as time passes, we will always be glad that we added this book to our personal collection. It will be available to stimulate and nourish our memories any time we pick it up and settle into our favorite chair with it for an hour or so.

To our newer members, I urge you to assemble your own collection of AA-related books and definitely to include this volume. Until you know and experience the entire AA story, your sense of belonging will be limited and tentative. Gradually, though, you will come to realize that you and your story are part of AA history. What is history but a collection of stories? As the total AA story comes alive in and through you, you will begin to see yourself as a small but vital part of one of Gods greatest miracles and can delight in the realization that this story is a part of you as well.

I would like to thank the authors for enriching my life with this marvelous collection and for their tireless efforts on behalf of the fellowship.

SANDY B.

Tampa, Florida

IN THE BOOK ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, author Bill Wilson promised, We shall be with you in the Fellowship of the Spirit and you will surely meet some of us as you trudge the Road of Happy Destiny.

Many of us have already had the privilege of meeting some of the men and women who tell their stories in this wonderful bookwho tell what it was like, what happened, and what it is like now after more than fifty years of continued sobriety.

These men and women who have experienced pitiful and incomprehensible demoralization and now walk in the sunlight of the spirit are still active in the fellowship of AA. They continue to be among us, to speak with us on a one-to-one basis in meetings, on the telephone, and at AA conferences and roundups.

The lives of the twenty alcoholics presented in this book provide solid evidence that the practice of AAs spiritual principles have worked for them for fifty years or more. And they will tell you, in their own way and in their own words, If it can work for me, it can work for every one of you.

I am grateful for the role I have played in helping to bring this book to fruition. I want to join in thanking these twenty sober members of Alcoholics Anonymous with more than a thousand years of sobriety for sharing their lives with us.