Hi there,

There is a man (Ron) who belongs to one of my AA groups. He will be 57 on Monday. I'm not particularly close to him but I speak with his girlfriend (Annie) in most meetings. She tried to commit suicide last November and is once again clean and sober. He has helped her tremendously.

This morning he had a major stroke. A guy that lives upstairs heard him moan and found him. He had major hemoraghing in his brain - he got to the ER at 7:30 am and was in surgery before 8:30 am, so they think that might have helped.

This girls sister is also in the program and is a nurse. I was talking to her before Annie came in and she said it was real bad and did not look good at all. I talked to Annie after the meeting and she said he is better than this morning but the next 24-48 hours are critical. I'm not sure she realizes just how bad it is. She also told me her cat is dying (he's 18) and that her 5 year old cat died unexpectedly two weeks ago. She didn't know he was in the hospital because she was at a different hospital with her mom who was having out patient surgery.

She has her hands full, but she knew she needed a meeting and she was there. She said she will also be at Early Bird tomorrow morning so I will see her there.

For those in AA you know the power of this program and how no matter how bad it gets, you get your *** to a meeting. The old timers say "don't drink even if your *** falls off". Well, her whole life is up in the air today and she did the next right thing and came to a meeting and didn't drink.

I am so grateful for this program. Please keep Ron in your thoughts (whatever his higher power has in mind is what I pray for). Also, his girlfriend Annie and his three daughters one of which is only 16 years old.

Thanks guys
Tranq