Bob P. (1917-2008) was General Manager of the General Service Office from 1974 to 1984, and then served as Senior Advisor to the G.S.O. from 1985 until his retirement. His story is in the Big Book as “AA Taught Him to Handle Sobriety,” 3rd edit. (1976) pp. 554-561, 4th edit. (2001) pp. 553-559. During the 1986 General Service Conference, Bob … Read More
Step Six: An Enormous Opportunity
When I finished my first Step Five, I was eager to continue. After all I was nine months sober, and ready to work my way through Step Twelve and get the step process behind me. I asked my sponsor what I should be doing, and he reminded me with his slow Mississippi drawl to read Steps One through Five again … Read More
On Tradition Six
“An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.” Editorial by Bill W. A.A. Grapevine, May 1948 The sixth of our 12 Points of A.A. Tradition is deemed so important that it states at length the relation … Read More
From: The Chair in the Corner, June 2012
What happened, where did the time go? In just a couple of days I will hopefully be attending Graduation Ceremony for my two sons. Nicholas graduates from Jordan High School and Christopher will graduate from Brighton High School. That means a couple of things right away. There will be much more noise around the house during the day and the … Read More
Concept VI
On behalf of A.A. as a whole, our General Service Conference has the principle responsibility for the maintenance of our world services, and it traditionally has the final decision respecting large matters of general policy and finance. But the Conference also recognizes that the chief initiative and the active responsibility in most of these matters should be exercised primarily by … Read More
A Long Way Home
The first time I admitted to another human being, and probably to myself, that I was an alcoholic was to my then husband. We were at one of his friend’s wedding and I had to stay in the car because I was so drunk and was having a meltdown. A couple of weeks before, I had spent five nights in … Read More