Not My Story

But I had to share. Hearing it last night affected me so much. I'm not sure why. But as she was sharing, tears began streaming down my face. Maybe because it had been a powerful meeting until then. One woman had shared about her relationship with her husband that was just like mine. Something I haven't been able to talk about except with my sponser during my fifth step. Maybe it was the girl who had relapsed and collected her 24 hour chip in tears. The meeting was hitting me hard. We were discussing the 12th step. I was in full identification mode. And then this:

She shared that when she was 16 years sober she picked up the newspaper and a woman with the exact same name, first and last, and the same age had been involved in a serious accident and had been arrested for drunk driving. It was all over the papers. She got phone calls from all over checking on her, worried about her. Everyone assumed it was our friend. From across the country, relatives called. People were worried she had thrown 16 years of sobriety down the drain. Human resources called her in. She had a lot to clean up. Telling everyone it was coincidence, it wasn't her. She was still sober. She was angry. But she also had a feeling. She practiced these principles in all her affairs, so she wrote this woman a letter, telling her the story, that they had the same name, telling her she was sober. Saying she didn't know if this woman had a problem but chances are when you make the front page its an indication something is wrong. Included the brochure of 44 questions from AA. She never heard back. Months went by and she often wondered what had happened. Then at church one Sunday, a woman stood up when they asked if anyone was new. Her church does that, then they give you a rose and some membership info. She introduced herself by her first name. Our friend had a feeling and approached her. Welcomed her to the church and said we share the same name. The woman didn't say anything for a few moments and then reached in her pocket and pulled out a crumpled envelope and asked if our friend had sent this to her. When she said yes, she thanked her and said she hadn't had a drink since receiving it a few months prior. Then her 14 yr old daughter approached our friend and thanked her for getting her mother sober. Our friend offered to take her to a meeting and has been sponsering her ever since. That was 4 years ago. Next month, our friend who is a Justice of the Peace will be officiating at her wedding. She's changing her name. Our friend isn't too happy about that. She did say that if you connected the town where she lived, the town where this woman lived and the town where the church was it formed a triangle. How cool is that.

I don't know what hit me on this story. Identification with the desperation of the woman with the crumpled envelope. The evidence of God's grace. The fruits of reaching out. It's a beautiful story and I wanted to share it with you.