Page 289 - The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous

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274 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS
interview with Mr. T., I was ready and willing to go to
the ends of the earth, if that was what it took, for me
to find what these people had.
So I went to Akron, and also to Cleveland, and I
met more recovered alcoholics. I saw in these people
a quality of peace and serenity that I knew I must
have for myself. Not only were they at peace with
themselves, but they were getting a kick out of life
such as one seldom encounters, except in the very
young. They seemed to have all the ingredients for
successful living: philosophy, faith, a sense of humor
(they could laugh at themselves), clear-cut objectives,
appreciation—and most especially appreciation and
sympathetic understanding for their fellow man.
Nothing in their lives took precedence over their
response to a call for help from some alcoholic in need.
They would travel miles and stay up all night with
someone they had never laid eyes on before and think
nothing of it. Far from expecting praise for their
deeds, they claimed the performance a privilege and
insisted that they invariably received more than they
gave. Extraordinary people!
I didn’t dare hope I might find for myself all that
these people had found, but if I could acquire some
small part of their intriguing quality of living—and
sobriety—that would be enough.
Shortly after I returned to Chicago, my doctor, en­
couraged by the results of my contact with A.A., sent
us two more of his alcoholic patients. By the latter
part of September 1939, we had a nucleus of six and
held our first official group meeting.
I had a tough pull back to normal good health. It
had been so many years since I had not relied on some