...Anne and I drove him to the hospital at nine o'clock. I handed him a bottle of beer to steady his nerves so he could hold the knife, and he went in. We returned to the house and sat down to wait. After what seemed an endless time, he phoned; all had gone well. But after that he didn't come home for hours. Despite the awful strain, he had left the hospital, got into his car, and commenced to visit creditors and others he had harmed by his behavior. That was June 10, 1935. To the time of his death fifteen years later, Dr. Bob never took another drink of alcohol.
Next day he said, "Bill, don't you think that working on other alcoholics is terribly important? We'd be much safer if we got active, wouldn't we?"... AA Comes of Age pp71
It's so awesome how AA took flight. Think what would have happened if these men had become discouraged and given up.Where would we all be today?I know I'd be dead or in a mental hospital.
Thanks for the post Cheri, let's carry the message today.Have a great sober day...
"Just before they stopped [at the hospital, where Dr. Bob was to perform surgery], Bill, who also had his practical side, gave him a bottle of beer...The bottle of beer Bill gave him that morning was the last drink he [Dr. Bob] ever had.
"Although arguments have been and will be made for other significant occasions in A.A. history, it is generally agreed that Alcoholics Anonymous began there, in Akron, on that date: June 10, 1935."
c. 1980, Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers, pages 74-75
