My name is Bob, I am an alcoholic.

What's all this talk about sponsorship? I certainly don't want anyone telling me what to do. Ah, the foolishness of my early sobriety. Hey, I was a tornado of emotions, charging all over the place, full of fear, hate and discontent. Plus, I was a man's man, you were not going to catch me asking someone to be my valentine. Ah, the foolishness of my early sobriety. I knew so little and understood even less. I did not have even a remote idea of the full impact on my sobriety and life a good sponsor could have. And this is a dog-eat-dog world, where everyone is out for themselves. You won't catch me falling into that make-believe world of trust. Ah, the foolishness of my early sobriety. I can tell you I did not survive those early months. I continued to drink every time my emotions went on tilt, which happened several times each and every day. Finally, beaten down even more, I asked the $64,000 dollar question: "Would you be my sponsor?" I am amazed that I survived those early months of sobriety, I was oh! so very fortunate. I struggled, oh! how I did struggle, but I did not struggle alone. My sponsor was there at every turn in the beginning. We went to meetings together, we went to the gym together, we had coffee together, we fixed our cars together, and we talked, and we talked, and we talked. That is not completely true, for usually I was whining about how terrible my life was, while he politely listened and nodded his head. When I had finished, he would always ask me if I had drank today, and I would think he surely was not paying attention. Ah, I was so wrong, not only was he paying attention, he understood every emotion I felt, for he had been there before me. Today, with sober eyes, I understand a little of the truth, and one of those truths is that I miss my first sponsor so very much. He is probably chairing a meeting with his Higher Power today. He never did tell me what to do. He simply shared with me what was working for him and that, my friends, is how it works. No magic, no tricks, but surely a miracle. One drunk passing on to another how they got sober and how they stay sober, so simple and so perfect. God bless.
- Bob