Now that you have gladly welcomed me into the fellowship of SA, I feel very happy to walk with you in the Happy Destiny of sexual sobriety. Of course I have my own story to tell, a story of progressive defeat by lust since the early years of my childhood until that bright day when I admitted my powerlessness and turned my will and my life over to the care of God as I understand Him.
…We are growing slowly, we gain and lose members regularly, but we are still here after five years. Thank you for your support.
Our group started out with just three people two years ago and we are now a regular 8-10 members with 2 meetings a week. We have one, two and three years’ sobriety with many members struggling but who keep coming back. God knows how we all need each other and we strongly adhere to the SA definition of sobriety and the traditional meaning of marriage.
…Please find enclosed a contribution from the Saturday SA group in Portland. This is the proceeds from our second collection that is taken at every meeting. I hope everything is going well at the Central Office. We are grateful for the caring service you give to the Fellowship.
We total 7 people in our group, with an average attendance of 4, and we adhere strongly to the definition of sexual sobriety as: no sex with oneself or others outside of marriage in the traditional sense. We are struggling, but feel that it’s worth it.
Very seldom in Essay have I seen contributions from any of the original groups in the Los Angeles area. The Long Beach meeting was one of the original three meetings in the Los Angeles area — along with the West Los Angeles and Alhambra — and has been through many changes in the past 7 or 8 years.
At the Chicago Conference, Roy K. announced that he was severing his administrative connection with the SA Central Office. His reasons for doing so are listed in “Roy Steps Away From the Central Office,” one of three papers he submitted to the Fellowship at the Conference, copies of which appear in Box 300 with this issue of Essay.
[The following are all responses received by the Central Office to the article “SA and Sexual Abuse” on page 20 of the October 1990 issue of Essay. We hope no response was omitted; the CO was in transition due to Nan’s leaving.—Ed.]
In but a few weeks it will be ten years from the time Box 300 was first opened (June of 1981) and that first wave of desperate letters started pouring in asking for help. When the Chicago conference rolls around in July, it will have been ten years from the historic meeting in our garage where SAs from over the U.S. joined together for the first time and came to one mind and spirit in formulating the principles of our SA Program.
My story is very similar to many I have read and heard in SA. I was sexually obsessive and compulsive for over 50 years. And my disease got progressively worse until I finally found myself living in a flop house hotel, losing my job, frequenting porno shops and flicks, and having lost my family and friends. In desperation, I called SA and got help.
