Last year after the Greek AA Convention I went to the small island of Paros with an AA friend to visit her former home and alma mater, the Aegean Center for the Fine Arts. I was impressed with the small competitive school and set my next goal on applying, being accepted and attending the school to finish my BA. I went through the process, which I think I have written about already. I was informed last week that I have been accepted! This was a shock, because I didn’t think I would be notified until December. I am excited, nervous and very much looking forward to being there. My semester begins March 8, 2010 and ends on June 7th. I will be taking three classes (12 credits) which will finish my BA from SUNY Empire State College. What a great way to cap off my 5-year academic odyssey. All of this is a direct result of my finding sobriety and grabbing hold with all the desperation of a drowning man.
My mother’s health is very good these days and we are both looking forward to seeing my sister and her husband over the Thanksgiving week. They are coming to visit and will be here for a few days. It will be a quiet few days and, I hope, restful for our guests.
I have been participating in a commitment with a nearby Men’s AA Group. Twice a month we bring a meeting into the very same jail I spent 19 months in between winter 2003 and fall 2004. I was nervous at first, but truly feel that I am able to leave, any of the ghosts behind me every time I lave the facility. Next week we go back in on the night before Thanksgiving. Having been there, perhaps I can deliver the message that these guys never have to spend another family holiday in jail again, if they choose. What a wonderful sense of forgiveness I have found in this action, this 12 Step work and this program of recovery. I have been granted a new life in sobriety, one that I could not have imagined had I stayed drinking and playing at being God.
Johnnyboy
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