Dear Mother of “J.”: I cannot tell how poignantly I am stirred by the letter you wrote the Grapevine about your alcoholic son. Just ten years ago my own mother, after years of frantic bewilderment, lost hope. Long a chronic problem drinker, I had come to the jumping-off place. A very good doctor had pronouncedContinue reading “Letter To The Mother Of An Alcoholic – Language Of The Heart By Bill W 1944”
Category Archives: Disease
My Mind And I – Grapevine Article September 1997 By Knoba D.
I was in my sister’s house, living in the basement, next to the pool table, unemployed and for all practical purposes, unemployable. At the few interviews I did manage to get, I was vague and evasive. My creative genius–my mind–advised me there was something terribly wrong with my life. My mind told me, “If youContinue reading “My Mind And I – Grapevine Article September 1997 By Knoba D.”
The Disease Concept In Early AA – Grapevine Article November 2003 By Anonymous
BEFORE HE MET DR. BOB, BILL W. had spent six months trying to sober up other alcoholics–without success. A conversation he had with Dr. Silkworth before leaving for Akron changed the way Bill carried the message to Doctor Bob and changed the destiny of millions of alcoholics to come. The part of the message thatContinue reading “The Disease Concept In Early AA – Grapevine Article November 2003 By Anonymous”
The Spiritual Angle of AA – Grapevine Article October 1955 By Rev. Samuel Shoemaker
The early A.A. got its ideas of self-examination, acknowledgment of character defects, restitution for harm done, and working with others straight from the Oxford Groups and directly from Sam Shoemaker, their former leader in America, and from nowhere else.” — BILL W. IT was clear to Bill W. from the first, I take it, thatContinue reading “The Spiritual Angle of AA – Grapevine Article October 1955 By Rev. Samuel Shoemaker”
Slips And Human Nature – Grapevine Article January 1947 By Dr. William Silkworth Author Of ‘The Doctor’s Opinion’ In The Big Book
Dr. Silkworth, Physician-in-Chief of the Charles B. Towns Hospital, he is counted among the founders of AA. In his lifetime he treated some 40,000 alcoholics. The mystery of slips is not so deep as it may appear. While it does seem odd that an alcoholic, who has restored himself to a dignified place among hisContinue reading “Slips And Human Nature – Grapevine Article January 1947 By Dr. William Silkworth Author Of ‘The Doctor’s Opinion’ In The Big Book”
Maturity, Frustration & Growth – Grapevine Article By Marvin Block, MD
A topic we often don’t discuss is the importance of how we deal with frustration and the relationship between our response to frustration to our growth and maturity in accepting life as it is. I found this short extract from a much larger Grapevine Article entitled ‘Alcoholism and Alcoholic Anonymous’ written in February 1974 quiteContinue reading “Maturity, Frustration & Growth – Grapevine Article By Marvin Block, MD”
No One Will Know – Grapevine Article October 2022 By Matt M.
While working on a construction site with some AA buddies, he had a close call he won’t soon forget A few years back, my 10-year AA anniversary was approaching. At that time, I was working a good program, going to my regular meetings and my home group. I touched base with my sponsor and workedContinue reading “No One Will Know – Grapevine Article October 2022 By Matt M.”
Key To Sobriety – As Bill Sees It # 257
The unique ability of each A.A. to identify himself with, and bring recovery to, the newcomer in no way depends upon his learning, his eloquence, or any special individual skills. The only thing that matters is that he is an alcoholic who has found a key to sobriety. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ In my first conversation with Dr.Continue reading “Key To Sobriety – As Bill Sees It # 257”
He Kept The Faith – Grapevine Article November 1954 By Bill W
IN MEMORIAM BILL D., AA Number Three, died in Akron Friday night, September 17th, 1954. That is, people say he died, but he really didn’t. His spirit and works are today alive in the hearts of uncounted AAs and who can doubt that Bill already dwells in one of those many Mansions in the GreatContinue reading “He Kept The Faith – Grapevine Article November 1954 By Bill W”
Happy – When We’re Free – As Bill Sees It #218
For most normal folks, drinking means release from care, boredom, and worry. It means joyous intimacy with friends and a feeling that life is good. But not so with us in those last days of heavy drinking. The old pleasures were gone. There was an insistent yearning to enjoy life as we once did andContinue reading “Happy – When We’re Free – As Bill Sees It #218”