One of the greatest gifts I have received from Higher Power in my nearly five years of sobriety and recovery in SA has been my new-found ability to date. I’m glad that it didn’t happen how or with whom I wanted because that never worked for me before and I’m certain it wouldn’t work now.
I’m writing to you to raise some issues that have become somewhat of a passion for me—namely same-sex orientation, or behavior. I’ll start by giving you a little of my background. SA started in Melbourne, Australia in December 1992. I knew that SA had something that I wanted. For the first five months there were just three members.
I am a grateful recovering sexaholic. Because of my dad’s death and mother’s illness I came to California to help out and ended up at the North Hollywood SA group, where I found recovery. Halleluiah! I did my First Step with them which was the most healing and surprisingly, the most cleansing experience I’ve ever had in my life. I say surprising because I’m a woman and was greatly outnumbered in the meetings by men!
Bill W. of the Chicago area SA died on July 20, 1994 of a heart attack. He had had dinner with another SA member, and was sober. He was known as a member who was “always there” for people, and served faithfully on the old Advisory Committee.
We are now setting about building a new “house” for SA, that is, a new Central Office as well as a new organizational structure. I would like to share some of my personal feelings and experience with you who are involved in this task.
These 12 suggestions were beneficial and very useful to me and our fellowship. I believe they have helped us to stay focused and committed to working the solution, like the first 100 members of AA did. I thought the fellowship might find it of interest.
SA has been meeting twice a week for 18 months now. By the grace of God, we have a solid core of sobriety and recovery, with two members over 12 months, two over six months, and three over three months. We focus strongly on the literature at each meeting, reading from the White Book the Twelve & Twelve, and the AA Big Book.
We are enjoying the new format and the expanded content of the Essay newsletter. The articles on successful SA meetings (focusing on the solution) and on sponsorship were especially welcomed. They offer constructive suggestions on how to strengthen and enhance our commitment to recovery.
Hi, my name is Marsha F. I am a gratefully recovering lustaholic from Cleveland, Ohio. I have been sexually sober since March of 1990, thanks to the grace of God and this fellowship. I am serving SA as the Corrections Committee (CC) Chairperson. A better description might be “prison coordinator.” The letters from prisoners that are received at Central Office are sent to me. I then attempt to find an SA contact on the “outside” to correspond with the prisoner.
MOTION: Moved that the COOC agrees to move the Central Office from Simi Valley, California. Carried unanimously. (Margo C./Paul S.)
