Every Saturday morning at 9:00 am, fueled with testosterone and caffeine, 70-90 men from all walks of life and all lengths of sobriety meet for a celebration of sobriety. The group has the perfect mixture of wise, serene old timers, angry, toxic newcomers and all types and sizes in between (AA has a wrench for every nut). It was this group that welcomed me and accepted me just the way I was and I was not "a vision for you." 

The group met in the activities room of the Catholic Church. The priest, Father Bill Wilson, was a member of AA for 25 years when I came in. He chaired my second meeting there and I heard his story. I heard him say that he learned more about spirituality from AA then he did in 50 years as a Catholic priest. Wow! 

I met my first sponsor at my first meeting there. He simply put out his hand and said, "some of us go to coffee after the meeting, why don't you join us?" A group of guys that attended regularly adopted me, called me, hugged me, invited me to golf. This attention was frightening for me who for 47 years had been running from intimacy, but they didn't seem to care. 

Right after picking up my 90 day chip from my sponsor in front of this group they elected me the donut guy. I couldn't see it at the time, but looking back this was a defining moment in my sobriety. It gave me a a sense of usefulness and a sense of purpose. I felt I belonged for the first time. 

What I remember most is the laughter. This group laughed at everything ("we're not laughing at your problem, we're laughing at your solution" yeah right!) They say you can't think and laugh at the same time. I needed that laughter because I was surely dying from terminal seriousness. Besides, my thinker as broken anyways. 

I'm profoundly grateful for my sobriety, especially for all the men at my first home group who loved me back to life.