I didn’t want any more time to pass before sharing a little about the wonderful experience I had at the Milwaukee Conference. It was an event of peace and serenity for me and I really felt the presence of my Higher Power there. I was reminded once again about my first SA meeting and how it was at that time.
The conference was wonderful. Approximately 178 attended. The first business meeting that I attended December 1983, there were 15 of us there. Five of us were in attendance in SLC. I truly recommend these conferences for loners as a way of connecting to others in the program and to the program as a whole.
Memories of the “Real Connection” International Retreat in Salt Lake City will still be fresh for many members as this issue of the Essay appears. For many of us, this retreat felt like recovery often feels: emotional, sometimes tense and uncomfortable, yet open and secure. As we walked together through sharing our struggles and victories, we began to experience the joy of true union with one another.
The SA Convention in July in Rochester, New York, was a beautiful experience for those of us able to attend. Feedback still being received indicates that nearly everyone who was there felt that we had achieved a spirit of unity and recovery that many of us had never seen before.
I was totally enthralled with how Higher Power brought it all together. It happened in spite of us. It flowed in a way no one could have made happen. I really felt the Presence. It moved me greatly.
I benefitted immensely. I got enough courage to share what I had never been able to share in my home meeting.
There’s been a change from the Hacienda to the Viscount Hotel for the December 4, 5, 6 SA Convention in Los Angeles. When the Convention Committee saw that the Hacienda’s remodeling would not be done in time as promised, they switched to the Viscount and were amazed to get such a first-class hotel at such a late date.
Time’s running out for supersaver air fares for our next international convention in St. Louis December 5-7. We’re rushing this ESSAY out, hoping everyone can get in under the 30-day advanced notice required for discount air fares.
The St. Louis SA group is looking for our help and support in planning the December convention.
We spoke out of recovery and celebrated sobriety for three days in Oklahoma City. That first night as sobriety was held up so we could see the recovery on the faces of those receiving the hugs, chips, and joy that comes with clean and sober living, I felt a gentle Power wash through our gathering. Gentle, but in waves it came, nine years, four years, three years, “the class of ’83,” two years, one year, nine months, six months, two, and one month.
