It never seems to get old, even though I’ve been driving to these regional conferences now for over a quarter century. I’m just appreciating these special times all the more since they were interrupted for a couple of years by the pandemic. 

This was the first year in quite a few years that I had not volunteered for anything at a retreat. That felt disappointing for a moment, knowing how important service is to the Fellowship and for my own sobriety and growth, but then I let it go and decided to relax into the program and accept the service of my trusted friends. How many times over the years, after all, had my sponsor reminded me that my sober presence is, itself, being of service to others. 

Comfortable lodging, great food, and good company for a whole weekend, I knew, would be a given. Warm April sunshine was a big bonus. I knew I could depend on our Canadian hosts to bring some big-time sobriety and recovery to the podium. My part was simply to show up and to keep it simple. 

For me, that meant “simply” showing up for the early bird meeting, meditation meetings, and climbing the hill to the Forest Lodge for Step meetings. I didn’t forget to reserve at least one hour on Saturday for my own rest and reflection while other meetings were going on. I didn’t need to carefully plan the whole weekend. I knew it would all be good. I just needed to be open to the next right thing.

As always, the big bonus for me, was sitting down at each meal around a table with a different group of joyfully recovering sexaholics and s-anons, or strolling the grounds between meetings in close conversation with friends I have known for years, some for decades, and some I had just met, but who all seem to understand my pains and my joys from first-hand experience.

But most of all, I enjoyed a whole weekend of warm hugs and belly laughs. That has been my long experience in this precious Fellowship. The more we gather, by the twos or threes, and even more so by the hundreds, we are absolutely not a glum lot.