What
happened to your sponsor, Ebby?
Answer
It
was Ebby who brought me the message that saved my life
and uncounted thousands of others.
Because of gratitude and old friendship, my wife Lois
and I invited Ebby to live at our home shortly after
I sobered up. The son of a well-to-do family in Albany,
he had never learned any profession so he was broke
and had to begin all over. These were difficult circumstances,
naturally. Ebby stayed with us something like a year
and a half. Being intent on getting re-established in
life, he took little interest in helping other alcoholics.
Little by little, he commenced the rationalization we
have seen so often. He began to say that if he had the
right romance and the right job then things would be
okay. At length, he fell by the wayside. He would not
mind if I tell this - it is a part of his story today.
For many years, my old friend Ebby was on the wagon
and off. Sometimes he could stay sober for a year or
more. He tried living with Lois and me for another considerable
period but apparently this was of no help. Maybe we
actually hindered him. As A.A. began to grow his position
became difficult. For a long time things went from bad
to worse.
About six years ago the groups down in Texas decided
to try their hand. Ebby was shipped non-stop to Dallas
and placed in an A.A. drying out place. In these new
surroundings in Texas, far from his old failures, he
has made a splendid recovery. Excepting for one slip
which occurred about a year after his arrival down there
he has been bone dry ever since. This is one of the
deepest satisfactions that has ever come to me since
A.A. started and many another A.A. can say the same.
(N.C.C.A. 'Blue Book,' Vol.12, 1960)
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