In the mtg yesterday, one of our older and most respected members announced that another member had had a fall, was in the hospital. The woman in the hospital comes to a meeting every few weeks. She's in her late 70's and has health conditions that limit her. I have met her a few times, talked with her briefly, heard her share. She has 29 years of sobriety. She has no family, but does have this very dear friend, who asked that anyone with a few free moments stop by the hospital and say Hello.

I really respect the woman who asked, and so rather than go to my typical noon mtg today, I went to the hospital. When I first walked into the room, Sally, ( not her real name) had a surprised, followed by a puzzled look on her face. I said hello, and asked her if she recognized me. She said yes, after a moment she did, but that I was out of context from where she was used to seeing me. I was only planning on staying 5 or 10 minutes. I was there an hour, and we talked about mundane and important things both.

She's been involved in AA since 1966. Though she hasn't had continuous sobriety since then, she kept going back. Like I said, today she has 29years. And a wealth of information to share. As I was getting ready to leave, she got a sheepish grin on her face, apologized, and said, "I'm sorry dear, what was your name again?" I laughed and hugged her and told her, my name is Kelley, and I'm a friend of Bill W. Same as you.