On a beautiful spring night in 2009, I was driving to a funeral home south of the city, listening to an old cassette tape, a gift from Art L. “My buddy… my buddy, “he crooned. “Your buddy… misses you!” The familiar gruff voice with its approximate pitching brought back a flood of memories. I wondered what had happened to my friend.
Dear Fellow SA Members: This quarter I would like to share my deep gratitude for Roy K.’s impact on my life, as I have expressed in my following letter to him.
Writing from your heart the vision splendid, Endowing SAs hence to know God’s power, Let love for fellow members be unended, Let the healing Twelve flourish and flower.
I remember being at an SA retreat in Oregon in 1995, when an old-timer named Harry gave Roy a hug during a speaker meeting, forgiving him for something. I was quite moved.
In September 2007, I attended my first regional conference in Irvine, CA. This was my first conference and the first time I had driven alone early on a Saturday morning (for 1 ½ hours) for my recovery. I was 29 years old and two years sober.
I lost my father a year ago. I know that he was liberated from the old body that tormented him. However, I never knew for sure that he looked upon his death as a spiritual passage to a higher level of consciousness.
I first met Roy at a meeting at a regional convention in Irvine, CA in 2006. As the meeting was about to begin, I heard someone whisper, “Hey, there’s Roy K.!” The room was crammed with maybe 50 people, and I spent the rest of the meeting trying to guess which one he was.
I was riding the elevator at the convention in Philly a few years ago. I think it might be the last Roy attended. The elevator door opened, Roy stepped in, and he asked if this was the way to the newcomers meeting.
Though I did not know Roy personally, I was deeply moved by the news of his death. I heard him speak once at an International Convention in New Jersey and I liked him: a dignified-looking older gentleman. Roy’s passing reminds me of the great gift SA has been in my life, a gift which I would not have today were it not for this man.
In January 1994, I attended my first SA convention in Rochester, NY. After the Friday evening session, I joined a small group of people standing around Roy. I’ve been fortunate on a few occasions to meet certain rare individuals who have the true gift of presence. Roy was one of them.
