Since becoming a member of AA, I am struck by the amount of awesome people that have entered my life. Last night I attended my usual Friday night meeting. The meeting is different than others I attend in that it is a mixed crowd (not a gay men's meeting), but more so in that everyone there other than me has double digit sobriety and I am able to just sit there and soak up knowledge like a sponge. Anyhow, January turns out to be the anniversary month of both my sponsor and grandsponsor who both attend this meeting. My sponsor was celebrating 15 years sober and my grandsponsor was celebrating 32. I don't know if others have this type of lineage going on with their sponsors and their sponsors...but I know I am grateful that I do. I changed sponsors recently, but my new sponsor has the same sponsor as my old one, so the grandsponsor has stayed the same. 90 percent of choosing my new sponsor was cuz of the individual that he is, but a small part was related to knowing who his sponsor is and where some of his AA knowledge comes from. Anyhow, after the meeting, my grandsponsor gave me his 32 year medallion and stated "One day you will have one of these of your own." My jaw almost dropped and I became a bit emotional. A moment in time that felt really good. Looking down at that medallion and the symbols on it...I'm like "holy crap..I've only seen roman numerals like this in relation to the superbowl!" Nonetheless, it's not really the numbers, but who it came from. Someone I respect immensely that thought enough of me to have that gift. Pretty cool.
Mark
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pretty cool Mark. my mom has a few of those, but I don't want that much sobriety just yet as she had to live to 78 to get it lol. be careful what you wish for.
Hey Mark,It is a blessing to have found sponsors that are able to 'help' you just as you help them. We are miracles of God even with one day sober,be proud of your 2 years and continue to carry the message.These positive spiritual feelings continue to give us incentive to keep showing up ,doing the work and ultimately helping someone who may be struggling.Have a blessed and productive day
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Selfishness-self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles.
That's very cool, Mark. You are fortunate to be in a strong network of recovery. I think I'll e-mail my sponsor now. Thanks for helping me be sober another day.
Stay hooked up to those coat tails Mark...You got the humility for it and I'd just love to be where you are when it happens which would make me 98 at the time. It could happen....eh what'd you say sonny? ((((hugs))))
Yah, both my sponsor and grandsponsor are the same age....66. My sponsor has a spirituality that is much closer to mine. Also, my sponsor was in a long term relationship with another alcoholic and broke up from it so he know where I am coming from with that. Most importantly, my sponsor is a step guru and I am loving that. My grandsponsor is just an amazing person in terms of having a strong personality, but also being humble at the same time. He survived a major surgery and an organ transplant several years ago and now has a very unique outlook on life and 1 day at a time since he did almost die at that time. As stated earlier, I'm grateful for both of them. I heard a speaker say that they learned to be a person with dignity and integrity from their sponsor. This is part of what I glean from both these guys.
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Mark, that's amazing. Made me think of the wonderful chair that I heard in my home group last night. He's been in around 30 years. He said that he went to the World Convention in Toronto in 2005 and said that they had some countdown there and it went all the way up to 56 years! Stories like what you said and what he told me make me want to keep on trucking!
Yes, it is my sponsor's sponsor. Steve, they had/have that countdown at the Roundup convention too on a slightly smaller scale, but still amazing. And yeah...my grandsponsor was one of the last 5 people standing. Last year I had to sit down pretty fast lol. This year will be a bit different. I wrote about the experience on here. The person who was the last standing gave the person with the least sobriety time a big book. It was powerful.
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Keep coming back. It works if you work it. So work it. You're worth it!
