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Thank you very much, Dick, and good morning everybody. My name is Sandy, and I'm an alcoholic.

And I'm honored to be here, lots of old friends, and all the wonderful speakers, all the

people that volunteered to put this on, and I'm glad you broke your record, and that's

really exciting. I came to AA in December 7th, 1964, and I'm one of these, okay. I just got one

white chip. I didn't know you could get more. If you're new, I would recommend just get one,

and let the guy next to you go out, because you can learn all the lessons of a slip by watching

someone. You don't have to do it yourself. I had the same sponsor for 42 years,

wonderful man. He was another marine named Bill B-

and we really became close, and everybody should be so lucky as to have that relationship that

lasts that long. I read somewhere a description of alcoholics anonymous that is one of my favorites,

and it goes like this. It says, in an almost magical manner, alcoholics anonymous was able to bring

to its religious and non-religious members alike, a view of the universe and their place in it.

Which is both comforting and exciting. In doing so, it borrowed from religion

everything that is powerful and uniting, while politely declining,

everything that is self-serving and divisive. It could be called the spiritual heist of the century,

and it did it all unconsciously without realizing it. Now, to me, that's the magic description

of alcoholics anonymous. If you ask me what our fellowship is, I would say it's a happening.

There is no explanation for it. There is no train of events for it. It just happened.

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