Greetings Salt Lake Central Office! I wonder why it is that memory is so selectively poor? When I drank, it was like the book describes, I was “…unable, at certain times, to bring into our (my) consciousness with sufficient force the memory of the suffering and humiliation of even a week or a month ago…”. So I’m sitting here, innocently minding my own business, when Jennie sends me an email asking for my Lifeline article. Just like last month. And the month before. And I even have technology on my side today, but still can’t manage to remember. Guess I can blame old age. Fortunately for me, I have all of you to remind me I can’t drink. I’m sure I would forget that too.

I want to thank you for the trust and confidence you’ve placed in me by electing me as the CO Chair for the next two years. It gives me great pleasure and is a great honor to serve the AA community here in Salt Lake City. Please feel free to contact me about CO issues, concerns, if you have questions, or just plain want to talk. My number is 971-235-5240 and email: wwhite56@comcast.net. I’m especially pleased to be a part of our particular CO, not all COs are created equal. I think our structure more perfectly fits our legacies of Recovery, Unity and Service than most COs. The democratic running of our office by the groups and their members is, in my opinion, how our structure works best.

Speaking of which, this will be the last time for a while that I bring up elections. December will see the turnover of all thirteen of our service Committee Chairs. From Activities to Volunteers, we’ll be identifying those who want to serve at the CO for the next two years. There are opportunities galore. Besides the Chair positions, each of the Committees will need members, so if you’re not ready to be a Chair, please consider serving on one of the Committees. All are qualified to serve, there are no requirements for Committee members. Serving in AA is a win/win proposition, those who are being served certainly receive benefit, but those who serve gain something that is impossible to get anywhere else. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you what it is, you have to do the service yourself to get what it is.

As usual, Bill W. said it best: “Our Twelfth Step – carrying the message – is the basic service that the AA Fellowship gives; this is our principal aim and the main reason for our existence. Therefore, AA is more than a set of principles; it is a society of alcoholics in action. We must carry the message, else we ourselves can wither and those who haven’t been given the truth may die.”

There is much more to this, on page S1 of the AA Service Manual, available in the bookstore.

I look forward to trudging the road of happy destiny with you,

In loving service, Wendy