March 15

"Come early, stay late" was one of the sayings we first heard. It was suggested that we join the 20/20 club. That meant to come twenty minutes before the meeting starts and stay twenty minutes after the meeting ends. How about those late-night meetings at the diner, until the wee hours in the morning.

As we think back to our beginnings, we can recall that they were some of the most revealing moments in our Recovery. We got to discuss some high points of the meeting, sometimes we asked questions about things we didn't understand. Some of us even got the opportunity to choose a Sponsor, as we saw how some members interacted in public. Some of us were embarrassed because another member offered to buy us food.

We didn't want to admit we didn't have money. We shared jokes and were able to laugh at ourselves.

Sometimes there were functions and N.A. events that forced us to socialize with one another, without the safety and structure of the meeting. These were opportunities for us to get out of isolation and learn how to interact with each other without the use of drugs. We were Accepted by those who, like us, experienced the same thing when they were new. We felt welcome, perhaps, for the first time we felt unconditional love.

The members that have been around before us, didn't want anything from us, and that felt strange. We began to feel the WE of the Program, the Fellowship part. Our walls began to fall, we began to feel Accepted, we began to feel Loved.

In Narcotics Anonymous we will Love you, until you learn to Love yourself. Our diversity gives us the Opportunity to come in contact with people that we wouldn't necessarily have gotten high with.

For the first time in a long time, we didn't feel alone.