My name is Ginny and I'm an alcoholic.

I came into the program a lot later than so many of my friends who are in AA, and I was a slow learner. I had to get rid of ego, numbness of the brain, slowness in working for my sobriety. Wanting the serenity that I saw at the meetings in so many be what I wanted so badly, and realizing that I had to work for it. It was hard to let go of so many of my past ways. Hard to take just one day at a time. One day at a time -- I love that. I had to realize that I couldn't keep this unless I give it away, like love. Service is very close to my heart as I meet people who have what I want. Eye contact, gentle welcoming smiles, outstretched hands, phone numbers freely given -- knowing that I have a list of people I can call at any time, and feeling not-egotistical when I give out my phone number to anyone who might need it when someone looks like I've felt so often. I smile a bit and talk to them -- then we exchange numbers. I've never in my life had anything like this. This program saves people. It pulls us up out of dreadful places, gives us ourselves back only better, lets us laugh and share and set up chairs and take down chairs and make coffee and go to assemblies if we choose, and my life is better than I could ever imagine it could be. Life still happens. Life can be difficult. Life can hurt. But I have the program and all of you and I have the way to work out of anything, and when I falter in my emotional state I have friends in the program who come and see if things can be helped. And knowing that, and knowing Dr. Bob and Bill W. through reading and reading and reading, and discussing, and listening to speakers, and doing the service that I can -- I truly have a life that is good. And I'm not drinking. And I'll go to a meeting tomorrow. And one day at a time I can reach out to someone as people have reached out to me.