Truth Tale #13: Women: The Life Savers, The Grounders, The Magic Makers

Every Sunday morning I am presented with proof that magic is real…or….that God exists…or that even in a scary, painful world, there are always moments of profound grounding to be had. It is with incredible women that this exists. I am in total awe over the importance of the connections we have, the depth of empathy that is there, organically. The symbiosis so perfect. Here is the story of how this Sunday morning miracle happened….

When the pandemic started and in person AA meetings came to a screeching halt, the online meetings became the life raft for connecting within the sober community. That was obviously better than nothing, but after some time…I longed for something more. I reached out to my old sponsor (no, no, she is not old; she’s my sponsor I had before I moved) about this. She, being the magical woman that she is, told me, “Yea, I’m not feeling fully connected with online meets, so I started having women over in my backyard once a week to have a meeting….” GENIUS! No, seriously…actually fucking genius! Life saving, really.

Bing, bang boom…time for action. I sent out a group text, gathered interested women, and started a Sunday morning meeting…under a tree, outside my apartment building. We’d sit 6 feet apart, some in folding, soccer mom chairs and some on the ground, in the sweltering hot, or in the freezing snow. We did not care. Ok, maybe we cared when those fucking cicada bugs had their 17 year explosion in 2021. I cared….which came out as intermittent screams throughout the hour (if memory serves, which it mostly doesn’t, I’m remembering a day someone brought me a pop up tent to sit in to avoid cicadas landing on my head…or to avoid hearing me scream). We carried on, and it truly seemed like nothing could stop us from coming together for this weekly, saving-grace hour.

This group, these women, these 2+ years…we have held each other through cancers, traumatic brain injury, ups and downs of marriages, betrayal, disappointment, untimely death, injustice, relapse, motherhood fear/pain, and so much more. It is truly remarkable to witness the level of support that flows from this deep well of combined strength.

Alone, individually, we are fire crackers, change makers, intellects, and the like. But TOGETHER, we are something beyond all of that; the word that comes to mind that would best describe it is alchemy. Not in a creepy, wiccan way (no offense), but rather in a, “No way, that can’t be real….” way. And let me tell you, IT IS REAL! I can’t explain it in the way it deserves explanation, but I feel it every Sunday, and it carries me through the week, until the next time we meet. That is magic. That is sacred. That is a blessing!

This for ALL of the women I love. And for Jenny who taught us so much, and left us too soon.