Excerpt
Slowly, not to spook the horses, Joel rose and once again shadowed
by Buddy he made his way back to the ranch house.
Leaving Harry to take care of some necessary chores, Joel
decided he should drive into town and see if he could catch a
meeting. Before leaving, he pulled out the piece of paper that he
had written Tanya’s telephone number on and dialed. Tanya
answered, and yes, she would be delighted to get a lift into a
meeting. She would wait for him beside the highway. As he
expected, she was true to her word.
The AA meeting was in the same location as before. The parking
lot was already jammed with trucks. The meeting had started
by the time Tanya and Joel entered the hall. A young man was
chairing the meeting. Joel recognized some faces from his earlier
visit but many of them were new. Of course, the very popular
Tanya seemed to know everyone and everyone was eager to greet
her. Joel quietly sat in a chair near the door and listened to what
others had to say.
The members all came from different backgrounds but had
very similar stories. Together, they were overcoming their addictions
and moving on. It was obvious to Joel that those who
attended this meeting really wanted more out of life and weren’t
prepared to stay stuck where they had found themselves.
Joel’s thoughts drifted elsewhere. Three words came to mind:
poison, contaminate, and pollute. To Joel, these words represented
what he had done to his mind, his body, and his soul for so many
years. Eventually, his thoughts returned to the words of the speakers
and he left the meeting with more than his share of wisdom. It
always amazed him what he could hear if he listened. For the first
time in a lot of years, or maybe ever, Joel was listening and learning.
It felt good. Joel was beginning to enjoy the sweet taste of sobriety.
For him, it was just like opening a candy bar. If you never open the
bar and taste it, you will never know what it is that you are missing.
Joel had unwrapped the candy bar and he liked it.
After the meeting, as they headed out of town, Tanya asked
Joel when he was going to show her his place. Joel said
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