Of Gratitude and of Love

WE FLEW HOME

Thankful for all the blessings of the International Convention of AA

Indebtedness I owe to the hopeless, suffering alcoholic, whether 1 day or 36 years--sober.

Rejuvented by 65,000 smiling and very happy sober faces--day and night! OMG!!!

Entering a new phase in sobriety--of Recovery, Unity, and Service

Dismiss self and personally welcome all who step through this door of Alcoholics Anonymous

Just a few thoughts. Of course you noticed--grin! that taking the first letter of each line spelled "TIRED". And that is certainly what I am tonight--we just arrived home in Naples to a thunderstorm of the "magnitude" variety. That is the standard "Summer Welcome" in late-afternoon SW Florida.

Others have reported with much eruditeness convention news to the blogging world. I must say it was TRULY FUN to meet, even if ever so briefly, some of the Peeps of "blog" acquaintance. That's enough about that.

But I DO have an apres-convention short story which will no doubt be lengthened here to ungodly proportion:

This has nothing to do with alcoholism or the convention--or maybe anything at all. Sunday night I was sitting in the lobby of our hotel after midnight.  Blogging, and writing Emails was on my agenda, as usual every night, into the wee hours.  I was dying for a cup of coffee, Starbucks had closed. All alone, in semi darkness I sat writing, when a young girl smiling all over the place, popped out of seeming nowhere and stood before me.

Her words:  "Hello, I see you sitting here every night alone with your computer and a huge cup of coffee. And I see you  have no coffee tonight. Would you like some?" 

OBOY! My angel Flex is with me, and I said that she reminded me of Florence Nightingale.

Lesson to me (again): No person or group owns the monopoly on kindness to strangers. I still feel all one with people, and connected with all creation, no matter how loosely.  Whether I respond or not to that is up to me. The benefits of interconnecting far outweigh any semblance of tranquility in lonely self-aggrandizement.

Not only coffee, but some Apple-cake, water, and that genuine lovely smile all were delivered to this little computer table in the empty lobby. Marissa, born in Spain, told me she worked in the hotel bar--which had all but closed during the AA convention!

I verified for myself again, peeps, that love is everywhere. It is giving, it is an action. It is exemplified frequently in the bestowing of grace, favor, empathy and service to another/others. It can be the trading of a smile, an eye-to-eye connection, an understanding. As with any gift, the nature of love demands not only one who gives, but one who receives--and in beautiful reflection...gives back. When that happens, isn't it just WONDERFUL?

See...I told you I'd drag this out to a length far greater than its worth.

Sober Today.
Love you bloggers.
Wishing for us all--PEACE!

--steveroni