Lest we forget

   The other night a young lady came into to our meeting. She was a 10 or 15 minutes late. She came in with that faraway, disconnected look on her face and she sat at the table rocking back and forth in her chair fidgeting with her fingers and fingernails, then with her hair and back to her fingers. We were reading from As Bill Sees It and when it came her turn she read and began to share with us. She had had two years sober until three weeks ago. She is coming out of an abusive relationship, the boyfriend is in jail, and three weeks ago she was going to have a drink just to take the edge off…”We are without defense against the first drink”…Being out of her relationship was an obvious relief but she grieved over her lost sobriety. Nothing had changed she said, oblivion was waiting, she had nowhere else to go… “Quicksand stretched around me in all directions”… She was at the meeting with less than twenty-four hours from a drink. She said she was desperate for her sobriety…”we sought the same escape with all the desperation of drowning men“…After she shared all the obligatory phrases were uttered welcoming her back. The ladies surrounded her after the meeting surely offering comfort. I hope she keeps coming back and works the program with the desperation she feels now.