[gaea]

I am the daughter of a long time member of AA...

My dad first got sober in his 30's he struggled like no other with alcoholism and it was a struggle for him to stay sober, he worked his program day in and day out, he raised his kids in the program, i remember sitting in meeting after meeting growing up, learning, absorbing and most of all loving the community the way my dad did.

In June 1992 the doctor gave my dad a medicine that AA deemed a loss of his sobriety over, i remember being so angry that his long time sobriety was stripped from him that i was willing to go the length and argue for his behalf, he on the other hand willingly began all over again on June 7th, my navel birthday. So every year after that I attended his birthday month meeting as I had been doing already for years, and he was allowed to have me give him his chip as it was my navel birthday and his final AA birthday, the community knew me well had watched me grow up since age 14 where i now reside. I was honored..the last birthday chip i was allowed to give my dad was his 9th you see he had massive heart attack on 04/19/2002 and passed away..I held a bbq memorial at his favorite park, i went around to all the meeting halls he attended and invited everyone to come and celebrate his life. So many people (well over 200) showed up i was moved to tears, his memorial was alcohol free and my uncle who was also a member as well as a late life ordained minister flew out here to do his memorial services. One by one people talked about my dad, one by one they would come up to me and tell me how much he loved me, one by one i watched tears sliding down cheeks and one by one i enjoyed the laughter as great stories were told about my dad..He was passionate about his sobriety and loved helping others..he sponsored so many over the years. the there most valuable things i have kept that were his, his chips, his wallet and his big book..In June of that year i was requested to come to the birthday meeting by one of my dads long time friends, i honestly didn't want to because my dad would not be there...I went anyway. And as the evening went on i knew i was in the right place at the right moment, and as i watched member's getting 30,60,90 day chips and 6 mos, 1 year, 2year, on up to 10, and then my dads friend got up and he made a speech about my dad and with tears in his eyes he called me up and out of practice yet this group had voted on this, he handed me my dads 10 year chip, which i keep close to me. My dad's name and year also on the cake.

One of my favorite things my dad often did was challenge those he though bs'ing him he would challenge them to the point they had no choice but to prove him wrong and keep coming back...he was a bit of a hard arse at times.

He worked his steps daily they were a constant practice for him.

You would have liked my dad

So if its all right with everyone here i would like to say happy 20th frank s. you mean the world to me. <3