Aaahh... Much Better Now
I was glad to get last night behind me, get on down the driveway and head for home & bed. My brain felt like it had been through the blender by then.....and it was all self-imposed. Imagine that! Damned alkies.
Speaking of alkies: a couple of weeks previous to Audrey's 50th I had invited Lynda to go, reminded her of the invitation a few days prior, and at dinner time Saturday asked if she'd decided whether to attend or not. "Didn't you notice I had milk with dinner and not wine? Yes, I thought I'd come." Cool. Typically at that meeting there would be between 60 & 75 people; that night there were well in excess of 200. The overflow sat in an upstairs gallery at the back of the hall. I introduced her to a lot of the people I knew and pointed out others whose names she knew by my having talked about them.
Audrey could have chosen anyone she liked to take part in the meeting and I'd envisioned a 'who's who' of AA oldtimers from this area and Toronto. She displayed another facet of personality by sticking with members of her home group, both long term members and newcomers alike. As part of her closing remarks she said that if anyone's nose was out of joint at not having been asked to participate that they'd have to wait for her 55th anniversary medallion. Atta girl! (she'd be 92 by then) She did break with tradition in a way that I hadn't seen before by having a song played on the piano and sung by a friend of hers - a country/gospel song "One Day At A Time, Sweet Jesus" which was written by Marijohn Wilkins and Kris Kristofferson. It surprised me that Lynda knew the words and sang along but then she was brought up listening to that kind of music; I wasn't.
When the crowd thinned around Audrey at the end of the evening I took Lynda up to introduce her. First Audrey made a big fuss over me and gave me a big hug, then when I introduced Lynda she made an even bigger fuss over her. Audrey thanked her for taking a Saturday night out to come and spend it with a bunch of retired drunks; and that she'd heard a great deal about her. "Hang onto this guy; there's something special about him." (Thanks Audrey.) I told her how happy I was that her evening had gone so smoothly, so well and well attended. She looked great, happy and relaxed, decked out in a nice black dress with a smattering of sequins.
When I got Lynda talking about the meeting the next morning she said it was the only one she's been to that she had enjoyed. (That might have been her 3rd or 4th meeting) It had helped that we'd run into one guy earlier in the day while shopping who was also the first person we saw when we arrived at the meeting. I was glad for her to meet some of the people I'm closest to in the program and for her to be able to put faces with some of the names she's come to know.
Speaking of alkies: a couple of weeks previous to Audrey's 50th I had invited Lynda to go, reminded her of the invitation a few days prior, and at dinner time Saturday asked if she'd decided whether to attend or not. "Didn't you notice I had milk with dinner and not wine? Yes, I thought I'd come." Cool. Typically at that meeting there would be between 60 & 75 people; that night there were well in excess of 200. The overflow sat in an upstairs gallery at the back of the hall. I introduced her to a lot of the people I knew and pointed out others whose names she knew by my having talked about them.
Audrey could have chosen anyone she liked to take part in the meeting and I'd envisioned a 'who's who' of AA oldtimers from this area and Toronto. She displayed another facet of personality by sticking with members of her home group, both long term members and newcomers alike. As part of her closing remarks she said that if anyone's nose was out of joint at not having been asked to participate that they'd have to wait for her 55th anniversary medallion. Atta girl! (she'd be 92 by then) She did break with tradition in a way that I hadn't seen before by having a song played on the piano and sung by a friend of hers - a country/gospel song "One Day At A Time, Sweet Jesus" which was written by Marijohn Wilkins and Kris Kristofferson. It surprised me that Lynda knew the words and sang along but then she was brought up listening to that kind of music; I wasn't.
When the crowd thinned around Audrey at the end of the evening I took Lynda up to introduce her. First Audrey made a big fuss over me and gave me a big hug, then when I introduced Lynda she made an even bigger fuss over her. Audrey thanked her for taking a Saturday night out to come and spend it with a bunch of retired drunks; and that she'd heard a great deal about her. "Hang onto this guy; there's something special about him." (Thanks Audrey.) I told her how happy I was that her evening had gone so smoothly, so well and well attended. She looked great, happy and relaxed, decked out in a nice black dress with a smattering of sequins.
When I got Lynda talking about the meeting the next morning she said it was the only one she's been to that she had enjoyed. (That might have been her 3rd or 4th meeting) It had helped that we'd run into one guy earlier in the day while shopping who was also the first person we saw when we arrived at the meeting. I was glad for her to meet some of the people I'm closest to in the program and for her to be able to put faces with some of the names she's come to know.
Labels: 50 year medallion, Audrey
posted by Norm at 10/17/2007 02:26:00 AM
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