In 1977 I was beginning my life in sobriety, I had hit my bottom, attended my first meeting joined a home group and gotten a sponsor. I heard some talk at a meeting that a man named Father Martin was doing a talk at an auditorium in Manchester, New Hampshire. Somebody gave me a  ticket and I got a ride with some folks in my group to go see him. He gave a great inspirational, educational and humorous talk. Even though there were about five hundred people in the hall that night Father Martin had the ability to make everyone  feel as if he were talking directly to them. After the talk he stayed to greet everyone who wanted to talk to him. His personal warmth was tangible as was his humility. His eyes sparkled as he took a minute to encourage me to stay sober.  His encouragement was an important part of my early sobriety.

Over twenty years later I had the opportunity to spend some time with Father Martin when he came to Delray to be the speaker for a Crossroads Club fund raiser. He very humbly accepted my thanks for being instrumental in my sobriety. Father Martin literally had this influence on thousands of people in his lifetime of service to recovering people.

In 2001 I moved into a mobile home park in Boynton Beach. There were about ten of us in recovery with mobile homes in the park. Two doors down from me lived a guy named Larry Drummond. We had become friends in the program and attended the same meeting for some time. As we got to know each other in the park I learned that this bridge tending biker was a computer genius and that he had actually been a software code writer at IBM. At that time I was struggling to keep The Solution News a viable publication. I didn’t have a lot of money and I was working with an old computer. Over the next couple of years Larry literally kept me in business by constantly rebuilding and enhancing my hardware and software. He never took a nickel for his services and because of his kindness I was able to keep the presses running.

Both Father Martin and Larry Drummond are eulogized in this issue as they both recently went on to the “Big Meeting”.  One was a world famous personality and the other a regular guy just getting by but both understood the importance of giving away what they were so freely given. They gave their hope, love and service by using the wonderful quality of human kindness. Both will be sorely missed by those whose lives they touched but both are still with us as we return their gift to others yet to come.

Many years ago as I was searching for a solution to my own hopeless condition. I found the phone number of a man I had met in a court ordered substance abuse group therapy session. The man’s name was Tom C. and when I called for help he took me to my first meeting. He had a wife and six kids and was living in a cold water apartment in Nashua, New Hampshire. He had made many attempts at sobriety but had never been real successful. He answered the phone, picked me up and took me to my first meeting. We travelled the “road of happy destiny” together for about four and a half years. Tom was instrumental in my recovery but was not able to hold on to his own. We drifted apart and I relocated to Florida.

Last week I got a phone call and did not recognize the area code. I was curious so I answered it and was surprised to hear my old friends voice at the other end. We talked about the old times. Tom was apologetic and felt as if his relapse was in some way harmful to my sobriety. I was surprised because all these years I  have felt that Tom was instrumental in saving my life. It was truly a privilege to be able to thank him after all these years for his kindness.

In studying and learning about my disease for over three decades I have come to the conclusion that we are not dying from alcohol and drugs but instead from our self-centeredness. Our founders understood for the first time that the solution was to get outside of ourselves and help others. The truly successful people in recovery understand this and manifest it by simple acts of kindness to those seeking help.

Our recovery begins when we are touched heart to heart by another person who is the living channel through which God works. Our good works not only touch and change lives but help us save our own. Love and service to others is the key. Father Martin, Larry and Tom all understood and practiced this principle. As a result I have been blessed with a new life second to none and given the wonderful opportunity to keep the healing energy flowing by as Bill Wilson often said by “Passing It On”.