Theyre here; theyre upon us. The you-know-whats are here. Its hard enough to keep your balance and and sense of humor during the rest of the year. But the next 30 days are Grad School. Another way to say this is that left to our own devices, were all doomed. But were NOT left to our own devices. We have each other. And it is only Tuesday. Let me tell you a story. The year I got sober, 1986, I started worrying about Thanksgiving in August, because in my family, at least, everyone always went crazy, and I had always gotten the craziness all over me, like Oobleck, the sticky green slime in Dr. Seuss. But then the night before Thanksgiving, a sober gay man with AIDS took me aside and said, Annie, another word for Thanksgiving is Thursday. Just dont drink tomorrow. Just for one day.. Then he sprinkled purple glitter over me, and I said, Ive anointed you with Fairy dust! It changed my life. Just Thursday? What a concept. He said all I had to do was show up, and no matter what, no drink. Left foot, right foot, left foot, breathe. He was God with skin on for me that day, which is all we ever need. So I did what he said, because the only hope we ever have to give up is in our own agenda. I showed up at the relatives with purple glitter in my hair. My mom said sort of derisively, Oh for Petes sake, Honey. Look at you. So I laughed, tousled my hair, and sprinkled some on her. When my uncle and aunt and cousins asked me if I wanted a glass of wine, I said, No, thank you. It was so weird! It worked. No one tried to goad or shame me into having a drink. Then midway through dinner, Grandma Marion spilled red wine all over the sleeve of my white blouse. And I still didnt drink. I looked like the Red Badge of Courage meets Animal House, and the fumes went straight up my nose. But I kept remembering the sober guy with AIDS saying that all I had to do was not drink that day--that one Thursday. And because I had not been left to my own devices, it all turned into goofy blessing. That was 27 sober years ago. So thank you to everyone who knows about fairy dust and who has been god with skin on for me. I wish you all a day of purple glitter.
Posted on: Tue, 26 Nov 2013 20:48:22 +0000
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