Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Five year celebration

The house is quiet now from all the laughter and happy dinner conversation.  My wife's home group came by for dinner before the meeting.  It was a good time.  One of the people here was a fellow I sponsor who is also in AA.  He had not been here before and so enjoyed walking through the house and checking out the property.  And another lady came who is also in one of my Al-Anon groups.  She is much loved by us and said that she feels the same way about us.

I was away for much of the day taking my mother-in-law to a doctor's appointment.   She has lost another four pounds and is down to 103 lbs.  All else was good with her.  She complains about my father-in-law and how grouchy he is.  But after 6o+ years of marriage,  I don't suppose there is much that can be done about that.  On the way home, I stopped to get barbecued chicken, hamburgers and french fries for the parents' lunch.  We cook for the parents three days a week in hope of fattening them up.  How much of it they actually eat is out of my control.  They will get some of tonight's meal which was exquisite. 

C. had been cooking for most of the day which is something that she enjoys.  She made her special white clam sauce over linguine,  a red sauce with Italian sausages and meatballs over spaghetti, insalata caprese, homemade foccacia, and macadamia brownies for dessert.  Several people said that all the birthdays need to be celebrated here.  My Al-Anon friends said that I should host a retreat right here at the house with break out groups.  I thought of Lois and Bill--LOL. 

I am so glad that we can share the laughter with these friends.  To think that five years ago,  I was filled with so much fear about whether she would really "stick" with AA.  I remember that she cried when she got home from that first meeting.  We were still so far apart emotionally at that time.  The resentments, fears, lack of trust were all so strong.  I had yet to walk into an Al-Anon meeting.  That would come on August 13.  In the meantime,  C. went to as many meetings as she could find.  But the welcome she received at that first meeting stirred something within her.  I am grateful that she got to where she is today by getting to where she needed to be then.  Thank you, AA.

19 comments:

  1. smiles. glad that the evening is going well and you are enjoying the fellowship...hope the MIL turns for the better...

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  2. Big thing to celebrate. Congratulations to both of you.

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  3. Thank you AA, indeed. Miracles happen inside of those rooms. Congratulations to your lovely wife. She is a miracle.

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  4. Ah, Syd. I'm just so happy for you guys.

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  5. Wonderful that you were able to celebrate this important milestone.

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  6. I LOVED reading this. What a blessed life we all share, huh.

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  7. Great. I love the whole 'AA family' thing.. sounds really lovely. Glad you guys had a good time. The support is invaluable when things are tricky. Thanks for sharing and very generous to open your home for a shared meal like that.. total fellowship :)

    Wow what a five year journey it has been. Amazing. Time flies. You've both really made good use of those five years as not everyone in AA does..very impressive progress. For me the first five years were about establishing competency. In the sense that at the end of 5 years of going to TONS of meetings and totally absorbing every drop of AA I could, I felt 'competent'. Like I understood the landscape and knew how to perform the tasks that the journey required. I felt confidence in my ability and knowledge. I knew I could do what needed to be done when push came to shove. Plus I had faith that I had the right information because I had seen it work for 5 years. So 5 years is a good milestone for me. Hope it is for you guys too :)

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  8. Your life is good!

    May your in laws have some respite from their health problems in the days ahead.

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  9. Congrats to both of you. The team.

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  10. Congrats C. And, dinner sounded delicious. Seriously good. prayers for mil and eating.

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  11. Really great post, Syd. The celebration was for a super wonderful reason. We all celebrate with you and C. Yes, I too am glad that C attended that first AA meeting, but even more than that, I commend her for doing the work to get to where she is today.

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  12. i know that every day isn't like the day you've described here Syd... But, you guys have such a kool life! You sound well, celebrating milestones have that effect!

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  13. What a nice dinner event to celebrate her 5 years.
    Home made Focaccia sounds incredible...
    Your in laws are lucky to have you both.

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  14. Another miracle in 12-Step. Thanks for this beautiful post.

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  15. Not in AA or Al-Anon, just intrigued by some of the things I've read on your blog.

    Most logical consequences to unmet expectations suck.

    Happy days ahead for you it seems.
    Congrats. ~Mary

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  16. Congratulations! I love reading your blog!

    Did you blog before AA? I am curious if you were always this wise Syd... :o)

    I suspect you were.

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  17. CONGRATULATIONS!

    Hey I wrote an antidrug rant at mine, come by if you have time and tell me what you think. I'm trying to be serious today!

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  18. What an uplifting and wonderful post. Congratulations to your Wife. Sounds like she made an amazing feast.

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  19. This post made me smile today. Thanks.

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