Golden Shoes

These little sandals are among the things I purchased yesterday. Talk about impractical! Going virtually barefoot at a convention where there will be 50,000 people - unruly alcoholic people! That is just silly. But you can bet I will be doing it.

Tonight my daughter came over and we discussed our plans for the trip over fish tacos. On Saturday I asked a friend if he wanted to ride with us and he said yes. So, we will have three to our car. It will be a challenge for me because I will be with two enthusiastic (slightly manic?) alcoholics who are much younger than I am. I am going to have to be pretty vocal about my needs I think. Like I actually need to stop to go to the bathroom and to eat, and I need to sleep at night and I need to rest. This is going to be fun. Oh, that might sound sarcastic, but really, truly, this is going to be fun.

In over 25 years, I have never been able to make an International Convention, and here is why:

• 1985 - I was sober less than a year. Friends asked me to join them, and I didn't understand why I would want to go such a long way - Montreal.
• 1990 - I lived in a suburb of Vancouver, BC - I was on the host committee for the International in Seattle. I had my green vest, etc. I was so excited. My husband asked me to join him as he went to Alberta to work there for a month in June. Part of the deal was that I would be back in time for the convention. That, like many things he promised, never happened. I thought my heart would break.
• 1995 - Sober over 10 years and divorced, I had just started my job and thought I could make the trip to San Diego. Sadly, I did not have enough money or time off to make the trip.
• 2000 - I had just graduated from college and started my first management job. I was starting my graduate program and a trip anywhere was simply not on my radar.
• 2005 - I just didn't make it to Toronto. I know that I did watch the flag ceremony on my computer and really wished that I was there.

This is a dream trip for me. I am excited. I am thrilled that my daughter is excited. You know, last September when my little girl was sober for only 8 months, it seemed kind of like a nutty gamble to register her for a sober activity almost a year away. But it is now only 2 weeks away, and she is still sober. She is happy to be going.

"The age of miracles is still with us. Our own recovery proves that!" -- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 153