Page 281 - The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous

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266 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS
the program. The three of us did not feel up to the
job, and after a few meetings we convinced the pros­
pects that they, too, should go to Akron where they
could see an older group in action.
In the meantime, another doctor in Evanston be­
came convinced that the program had possibilities
and turned over a woman to us to do something
about. She was full of enthusiasm and also made the
trip to Akron. Immediately on her return in the au­
tumn of 1939, we began to have formal meetings once
a week, and we have continued to do this and to ex­
pand ever since.
Occasionally, it is accorded to a few of us to watch
something fine grow from a tiny kernel into something
of gigantic goodness. Such has been my privilege,
both nationally and in my home city. From a mere
handful in Akron, we have spread throughout the
world. From a single member in the Chicago area,
commuting to Akron, we now exceed six thousand.
These last eighteen years have been the happiest of
my life, trite though that statement may seem. Fifteen
of those years I would not have enjoyed had I contin­
ued drinking. Doctors told me before I stopped that I
had only three years at the outside to live.
This latest part of my life has had a purpose, not in
great things accomplished but in daily living. Cour­
age to face each day has replaced the fears and uncer­
tainties of earlier years. Acceptance of things as they
are has replaced the old impatient champing at the
bit to conquer the world. I have stopped tilting at
windmills and, instead, have tried to accomplish the
little daily tasks, unimportant in themselves, but tasks
that are an integral part of living fully.