Then we got a trike or maybe even a two wheeler.  Maybe we were old enough to go to the Big Park. Now that was really exciting – we were going places! So much to see and do. Sometimes though, we still climbed in the sandbox, especially if the littler kids seemed to be having fun in there, and they asked us to join them. Not too many months went by though, and when we climbed back in the sandbox, we hoped our new, more mature friends didn’t see us in there.  Sometimes it was enjoyable, but we really started to notice that the sand maybe wasn’t all that clean, and we found the occasional cat turd.  Pretty soon, as we were enjoying our new freedom and the wind in our hair on the bike, with our new friends, we wouldn’t get back in the sandbox for anything.  It’s not that we missed the sandbox. It’s not that we thought the younger kids shouldn’t be in the sandbox. We had just outgrown the sandbox. We were not interested in it anymore.

As people first move into sobriety and new behaviours, the sandbox full of using and drinking friends can still look pretty appealing. It can be very tempting to step back in, get down on your haunches and push the little firetruck around a bit.  Some of these little friends really look like they are loving where they are.  One day at a time though, hanging out with your new friends in sobriety is less like riding a two wheeler than it is getting your driver’s license. Trust me, you will not be pining away for the sandbox of your old life.

Jane

You deserve to be treated with respect, and fed great food!

Chapter 6 is called  Into Action, not Into Thinking.

The Bill W. Plant Story

A brief history of a well traveled plant…

If you are in recovery, you may have heard of, or seen a certain little green plant making its way around the rooms of your twelve step program. Maybe you have seen a little plant being given as a gift at a sobriety anniversary. Maybe your sponsor has one, or your sponsor’s sponsor. Maybe you even have one, and have shared it with your sponsors.

When I arrived in the community thirteen years ago, I didn’t notice or see any of these plants. Six years ago I first saw one given away at a 12 Step social function. This little plant then began to show up, in my awareness, here and there, being passed from member to member, or given as a gift to celebrate an anniversary cake. When I met my husband, he had a small struggling plant that his sponsor had given him.

I assumed the care of this little plant with delight, and began propagating it. Over the next couple of years, I had nurtured 10 healthy plants. These plants love and thrive on attention, just like most people in recovery! My intention was to have this little green plant in each of the 8 private bedrooms of A Home Away Retreat. Below is a copy of the card placed beside each flourishing symbol of recovery.

–

The Bill W. Plant

Also known as Swedish Ivy, the plant in your bedroom comes with a great story to share. That is what recovery is all about, one alcoholic sharing with another.

Bill W. passed away on January 24, 1971 in Miami, Florida. When his wife, Lois, returned to their home in New York, now known as Stepping Stones, she brought home the plant that had been in Bill’s Florida hospital room. Lois cared for the plant until the mid 1980’s, when she passed it on to Harriet Sevarino, beloved cook and companion of Bill and Lois for 35 years. Harriet passed the plant on to Michael M., a member of AA from Atlanta, Georgia. Lois asked Michael to pass it on to members of AA in Bill’s memory. Michael did just that, sharing cuttings and offshoots of this plant with AA members all around the world.

The plant in your room comes from a slender shoot that John Derry brought from Ontario, a descendent of the original. The plant was passed on to John by his sponsor, Dave P., in 2005. Through tender care and propagation of cuttings, this plant is here today for you to care for and enjoy. It loves sun, and likes to dry out completely between waterings.

If you like, please take a small cutting home with you, share it with your new friends in recovery, and pass it on too. Cuttings root easily in water. Like the fellowship, when a piece of the plant is passed on, the plant grows stronger, and with care, and sharing, it spreads to homes and communities around the world.

–

I hope that one day every member who wants a plant shall have one.

If you can’t find one in your community, email us, and I’ll do my best to share with you.

Jane Derry General Manager and Spiritual Director of A Home Away Retreat. A private results oriented addiction recovery retreat. Non-institutional rehab that works – turns addictions into assets.

]]> http://www.ahomeaway.org/holistic-rehab/index.php/the-bill-w-plant-story/feed/ 0 http://www.ahomeaway.org/holistic-rehab/index.php/augustmen/ http://www.ahomeaway.org/holistic-rehab/index.php/augustmen/#comments Fri, 20 Aug 2010 21:54:56 +0000 Jane http://www.ahomeaway.org/holistic-rehab/?p=2735 This is a sampling of what you would have eaten at A Home Away this month. There is room at the table for you!

Thursday July 29th, Green Leaf Salad with roasted Tomatoes, Peppers, Olives and Feta Cheese

Monday August 2nd, “Piemontese Style” Chicken Cacciatore

Monday August 2nd, Lemon Mousse with white Balsamic Berry Salad

Tuesday August 3rd, “Sicilian Style” Pizza

Tuesday August 3rd, Surf and Turf with Sauce Hollandaise

Tuesday August 3rd, Chocolate Hazelnut Terrine with Raspberry Coulis

Wednesday August 4th, Napa Cabbage Salad

Wednesday August 4th, Whole Wheat Bagel with smoked Salmon, Avocados and Pea Shoots

Wednesday August 4th, “Marrocan Style Lamb Kebabs with dried Apricots and Bell peppers

Wednesday August 11th, French Crepes filled with smoked Salmon and Caper Mousse

Thursday August 12th, Lemon Meringue Tart

Salutation to the Dawn

Look to this day!
For it is life, the very life of life.
In its brief course
Lie all the verities and realities of your existence:

The bliss of growth
The glory of action
The splendour of beauty

For yesterday is but a dream
And tomorrow only a vision
But today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.

Look well, therefore to this day!

- Kalidasa, Indian Poet