Online AA
My name is Nancy C and I am a very grateful alcoholic. It is an honor for me to Chair the GROW Meeting this week. It was February 17, 1997 that I first found online AA and my gratitude is eternal.
I sent a message to join the online group then got drunk and sent another message with just HELP in the Subject line. When I got up the next morning, there were messages from so many dear sober ladies telling me their stories and encouraging me to join them in sober living.
At first, I thought that this was my answer, not going to meetings in my town but instead doing my sober journey online. There were many ladies who pointed out that I needed to get to face-to-face meetings so people could look me in the eye and give me real hugs. It took me 2 weeks but I finally attended my first meeting on a Sunday morning and another one that night. Attended 90 meetings in 90 days and this gave me a great start on my sober journey. Met so many wonderful, helpful people who have been an important part of my life the past 22 years.
I still stayed in the online group and joined GROW when it started and found it so helpful to have a meeting and sharing available 24/7. On sleepless nights, I would get online and straighten out my stinking thinking! For four years, I was so fortunate to meet face-to-face many members of the online group at a retreat in Georgia. Awesome memories from those gatherings.
I had a sponsor here in my town who helped me immensely and had an online sponsor who I became very close to and would visit each year for my AA Birthday. She sadly passed away 2 1/2 years ago, just 5 weeks after my husband of 51 years suddenly passed away.
I have always had a very special connection to online AA and was privileged to volunteer at the OIAA (Online Intergroup Alcoholics Anonymous)Hospitality Suite at the 70th International AA Conference in Toronto ON Canada in 2005. It was fun to introduce my local AA friends to my online friends!
Both face-to-face AA and online AA mean the world to me but online will always have a special place in my heart. I would love to hear from you women this week what your experiences with online AA have been or whatever you need to share about with the group.
Thank you for the opportunity to Chair this week,
Nancy C