Newcomers are our treasured and valued commodity.
From the very beginning, Bill and Bob knew the importance of passing it on.
AA would have perished long ago if not for the constant influx of new blood.
Old timers pass, and the most improbable candidate steps forward to pick up the mantle…Alcoholics Anonymous will always survive.
Once upon a time when I was at the end of my rope, I slunk into my first meeting, looked around, listened, and decided I belonged here.
Even though people weren’t exactly seeing me at my best, they smiled encouragingly and said, “Keep coming back!”
It was a refreshing change from the usual, “Go away!” and the shot in the arm I so desperately needed.
I am now one of those old timers.
Stick around and it’ll happen to you, too (as long as you don’t drink or die).
People move through our lives like bus boys in a restaurant.
The rare ones leave their mark.
We lost such an old campaigner, and his absence is conspicuous.
Chic Bancroft wasn’t just your usual old timer, he was a role model and a resource.
Generous and charismatic, he dedicated his life to helping others, and was a class act.
It was always fun being around him: his mojo couldn’t help but rub off on you.
Chic was a former Navy SEAL, and like those Special Forces guys,
he was intelligent, focused, and driven.
Nobody’s born knowing this stuff, so it’s kind of a big deal to find someone who gets it right, has what you want, and is fun to be around.
Success begets success.
Chic and his beloved Barb opened their beautiful home to friends, and treated us like family.
When they beckoned, you showed up.
Although Chic projected an image of the benevolent old timer, I wasn’t fooled:
I always saw the warrior in him (no doubt a holdover from that ‘Special Forces’ sensibility).
For me, Alcoholics Anonymous has always been about people.
Our greatest resource is each other; stick with the winners.
A person’s actions will tell you everything you need to know. Pay attention.
Rather than mourn his passing, we should be grateful for the time we shared in this incarnation.
We’d do well to gather together, relate our favorite ‘Chic stories’, laugh, and tell a joke in his honor.
I think he’d get a kick out of that.
HERE’S THE TAKEAWAY:
He may be gone, but he’ll live on through the lives he touched.
Old heroes never die, they just become the stuff of legends.
