NYC

I’m here in NYC – visiting friends for a day then doing some business here.  NYC was where I got sober and spent my first five years in sobriety.  It has a lot of memories for me – it was the place where my life changed so dramatically and where I built a foundation that has proven to be pretty darn strong.

For a long time after moving to Los Angeles I really missed a particular room in Manhattan. It was on the Upper East Side on Monday nights right after work. It was in the basement of a church (grin – aren’t most of them?) and had such a solid group of wonderful people that I truly looked forward to that Monday night meeting each and every week.

It’s nice when you find a place like that. I can’t say I’ve ever quite found a match for it.  That might be due to who I was at the time rather than the meetings themselves. It’s like when you get nostalgic about a time in your youth and someone points out something that you’d completely forgotten – it just wasn’t part of your perfect picture of the past.

But on thing is so clear to me: I have these memories because nothing interfered with my having them.  Just think about the things you experienced that you barely recall because of alcohol or drugs – ever had a friend tell you a long story that begins with “remember when…” and you have no freaking clue what they’re talking about?  Yikes.