The Six Steps Bill W. Recalled from Memory – Sandy B. 😆

six steps and tonight I'm going to talk about the Frank Amos report some of the a a pioneers that stories appeared in the first edition big book and some of the things that happened in the very very early days and kind of kind of just show how Alcoholics Anonymous was getting started and how these people were getting sober you know when the big book came out in April of 1939 the people whose stories are in the big book didn't have the 12 steps. So we often just assume that somehow these 100 people stayed sober. Well, there's more to it than they just stopped drinking and started talking to one another. They actually were taking certain steps and actions and attempting to live by principles. So this presentation is a comprehensive historical view of the spiritual program that gave rise to Alcoholics Anonymous. In part one, we examined Bill W.'s recollection of the original steps, six steps that he wrote in 1953 that he had recalled and written down, and several audio recordings from the 40s and 50s of Bill sharing the plan of action in the pioneering days of AA and the Oxford group influences that shaped those practices. Well, in part two, we'll examine the 1938 Frank Amos report from Akron, which provided the earliest written description of the fellowship's methods, testimonies from early AA members, including Dr. Bob, and excerpts from the first edition Alcoholics Anonymous. Together, these sources confirmed that AA had a functioning program of recovery well before the 12 steps were published. And last week I shared this or, you know, in part one we did share this, but just to kind of get everybody into the right frame of mind and what these six steps were and what Bill was talking about. We pulled out a talk here from Bill in 1948 in Washington, D.C. I am drunk in Brooklyn at home. Someone came to me, even as someone came to each of you, and he was the point. And he said, if you will become more honest with yourself if you have stopped this accursed business of living alone and humbled yourself to confess to another if you will go out and clear away the debris of the past and straighten up these twisted relationships If you pray to any God that you know, or even experimentally to a God who may be there, and then if you will give of yourself to others without demand for reward, then I think you may no relief from this deadly attack. And that was a fundamental message from one alcoholic for the France Committee to another, my friend and me. And that was Bill recalling Ebby's visit. And here Dr. Bob talks about Bill's visit But it wasn't until 1939 that the teachings and efforts and studies that had been going on were crystallized in the form of the Twelve Steps. I didn't write the Twelve Steppes. They had nothing to do with the writing of them. I think probably I had something to do with them indirectly because after this June 10th episode, Bill came to live at our house and stayed for about three months. And there was hardly a night in that three months that we didn't sit up till two or three o'clock discussing these things. And it'd be hard for me to conceive that something wasn't said during those nightly discussions around our kitchen table that influenced the actual writing of the 12 steps. Much more handy to have in that form, of course. We had the ideas pretty much basically but not in terse and tangible form. We got them, as I said, as a result of our study, and they brought out the good books. We must have had them because we have learned from experience that they're very important in maintaining sobriety, and we were maintaining sobrietiy, therefore we had them but not in exactly the written form as you know them now. talk was in also in 1948 and dr bob gave that talk in detroit and he was reflecting back on the early days before the 12 steps and talking about his relationship with bill and how they had these steps that's how they were staying sober they were using the practices that they had picked up in the oxford group and this is what became the 12 steps. Now, Frank Amos, an associate at John D. Rockefeller, visited Akron to investigate the new fellowship. His report, preserved in AA's archives and later published in Dr. Bobbin and Good Old Timers, outlined seven practices that formed the heart of the program. This is likely the first account of AA method predating the big book. Now, it's interesting that Frank Amos from New York, who sent to investigate this because they want to ask Rockefeller for money, and he sends Frank AmOS to Akron. Well, it wasn't by accident that Frank Amos was sent to Akron. It was because that's where the people were getting and staying sober. In New York, Bill was still working with alcoholics and beginning to write the book. they had a small group there but historically speaking it was happening in Akron and Dr. Bob and Ann Smith were so instrumental in teaching these early AA members or you know Bill often said it was a flying blind period he said that and over and over in his speeches Wilson would say We didn't have a single word written down. It was just a word-of-mouth program. So this idea of capsulating these steps didn't happen until later when they looked back. They weren't doing any of this to write history, and it's very interesting here on the Frank Amos page. We got a couple of his death notices, and the one, he's one of five original founders of Alcoholics Anonymous, and The Other One is a founder of Alcoholic Anonymous. So Frank Amos was a very, very significant character in Alcoholics Anonymous and stayed on with the Alcoholic Foundation for many years. this is the in part the report that he brought back from Akron and he gave this to John D Rockefeller for consideration one an alcoholic must realize that he is an alcoholic incurable from a medical viewpoint and must never again drink anything with alcohol in it two he must surrender himself absolutely to God, realizing that in himself there is no hope. Three, not only must he want to stop drinking permanently, he must remove from his life other sins such as hatred, adultery and others which frequently accompany alcoholism. Unless he will do this, absolutely Smith and his associates refuse to work with him. Four, he must have devotions every morning, a quiet time of prayer and some reading from the Bible and the other religious literature unless this is faithfully followed. There's grave danger of backsliding. Five, he muss be willing to help other alcoholics get straightened out. This throws up a protective barrier and strengthens his own willpower and convictions. Six, it is important but not vital that he meet frequently with other reformed alcoholics and form both a social and a religious camaraderie ship. Seven, important but not vital that he attend some religious service at least once weekly. All the above is being carried out faithfully by the Akron group and not a day passes when there is not one or more new victims to work on with Smith as their leader by common consent you know if there is any question of Dr. Bob's role in Alcoholics Anonymous as a co-founder this report in 1938 should answer that question There is absolutely no doubt in my mind and enough evidence right here to show that Dr. Bob was a co-founder and a leader of Alcoholics Anonymous at this time. Now, AA did not have a name. So we have to have to keep that in mind that AA still it was a nameless society. And these were the drunk squads. But if you look at what happened in the Amos report, he was able to go back and tell John D. Rockefeller, these people need your support. The first edition text references Bill W's six steps. And these are the references to the six steps. Headings used in Bill W.'s account in 1953 of the six steps that he had written down from recollection. And here they are. Admitted hopelessness, got honest with self, got honest with another made amends helped others without demand and prayed to god as you understood him or god as you understand him now because this presentation is quite long and there's a lot of quotes i'm going to abbreviate some of them and not read every single one. But the first step that he outlined was admitting hopelessness. We learned that we had to fully concede to our innermost selves that we were alcoholic. This is the first steps to recovery, the delusion that we are like other people or presently maybe has to be smashed. Well, here we go. We alcoholics are men and women who have lost the ability to control our drinking. We know that no real alcoholic ever recovers control. All of us at times, or all of us felt at times that we were regaining control, but such intervals, usually brief were inevitably followed by still less control, which led in time to pitiful and incomprehensible demoralization. We are convinced to a man that alcoholics of our type are in the grip of a progressive illness over any considerable period we get worse, never better. And that's page 41 more about alcoholism and these page numbers reflect first edition pages so everything that we're showing is from the first edition big book again going on more admitted hopelessness and this is again in the context of the first part of the book, if a mere code of morals or a better philosophy of life was sufficient to overcome alcoholism, many of us would have recovered long ago. But we found that no such codes and philosophies did not save us. No matter how much we tried, we could wish to be moral, We could wish to be philosophically comforted. In fact, we could will these things with all our might, but the needed power wasn't there. Our human resources as marshaled by the will were not sufficient. They failed utterly. Lack of power. That was our dilemma. We had to find a power by which we could live, and it had to be a power greater than ourselves. Obviously, but where and how do we find this power? Well, that's exactly what this book is about. Its main object is to enable you to find a power great than yourself, which will solve your problem. That means we have written a book which we believe to be spiritual as well as moral, and it means, of course, that we're going to talk about God. That's in we agnostics. Now getting honest with oneself. This was the second of the six steps as he reflected on them. Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. Those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program, usually men and women who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves. There are such unfortunates. They're not at fault. They seem to have been born that way. They're naturally incapable of grasping and developing a manner of living which demands rigorous honesty their chances are less than average from how it works therefore we started upon a personal inventory this was step four a business which takes no regular inventory usually goes broke taking a commercial inventory is a fact-finding and fact-facing process there's an effort to discover the truth about the stock in trade one object is to disclose damage or unsellable goods to get rid of them promptly and without regret if the owner of the business is to be successful he cannot fool himself about values so as he's going through this he's he's sharing the experiences that he and others had and that's why the big book was called our book of experience here's again a little bit more on getting honest with oneself we did exactly the same thing with our lives we took stock honestly first we searched out the flaws in our makeup which caused our failure being convinced itself manifested in various ways was what had defeated we considered its common manifestations then we go down to the next page resentment is a number one offender it destroys more alcoholics than anything else from it stems all forms of spiritual disease where we have been we have not been not only mentally and physically ill we have been spiritually sick. When the spiritual malady is overcome, we straighten out mentally and physically. In dealing with resentments, we set them down on paper. We listed the people, institutions, principles with whom we were angry. We asked ourselves, why were we angry? And here on page 74, selflessness, selfishness, self-centeredness, that we think is the root of our trouble. Driven by a hundred forms of fear, self-delusion, self seeking and self pity we step on the toes of our fellows and they retaliate. Sometimes they hurt us seemingly without provocation but we invariably find that at some time in the past we have made decisions based on self, which later placed us in this position to be hurt. Got honest with another, and this is what turned into our fifth step. We must be entirely honest with someone if we expect to live long and happily in this world. rightly and naturally we think well before we choose this person or persons with whom to take this intimate and confidential step those of us belonging to religious denominations which require confession must and of course will want to go to the proper appointed authority whose duty is to receive it. Though we have no religious connection, we may still do well to talk with someone ordained by an established religion. We often find such a person quick to see and understand our problem. Of course, we sometimes encounter people who do not understand alcoholics. there we are into action if we cannot or would rather not do this we search out acquaintances our acquaintances for a closed mouth understanding friend perhaps our doctor psychologist will be the person it may be one of our own family but we cannot disclose anything to our wives or parents which will hurt them and make them unhappy. We have no right to save our skin at the other person's expense. Such parts of our story we tell to someone who will understand, yet be unaffected. The rule is we must be hard on ourselves, but always considerate of others. I'm going to skip this one. All right, here we are making amends. Now we need more action, without which we find that faith without works is dead. let's look at steps eight and nine we have a list of all persons we have harmed and to whom we're willing to make amends we made it when we took the inventory we subjected ourselves to drastic self-appraisal now we go out to our fellows and repair the damage done in the past he's harder to go to an enemy than a friend but we find it much more beneficial to us We go to him in a helpful and forgiving spirit, confessing our former ill feelings and expressing our regret. So what Bill was clearly doing, and he said over and over through his life, that he was taking those six original ideas and he was enlarging upon them. And in the big book, he wanted to do it he said when he was writing the 12 steps he wanted to do so he didn't leave any wiggle room for the alcoholic so he expanded and enlarged upon what they had been learning and practicing through the oxford group and what they had had been teaching others to do and then what he did in the writing of the big book as bill said it is he enlarged upon these so that there would be no wiggle room for the alcoholic to get out and here making amends we must lose our fear of creditors no matter how far we have gone for we are liable to drink if we're afraid to face them although these reputations take in numeral forms there are some general principles which we find guiding, reminding ourselves that we have decided to go to any length to find a spiritual experience. We ask that we be given strength and direction to do the right thing no matter what the personal consequence may be. We may lose our position or reputation or face jail but we are willing we have to be we must not shrink to anything and of course working with others helping others without demand and that was the fifth idea that they were following here practical experience shows that nothing will so much ensure immunity from drinking as intense work with other alcoholics it works when other activities fail this is our 12th suggestion carry this message to the alcoholics you can help when no one else can you can secure their confidence when others fail remember they are very ill helping others is the foundation stone of your recovery a kindly act once in a while isn't enough you have to act good samaritan every day if need be it may mean the loss of many nights sleeps great interference with your pleasures interruptions to your business and that's from page 109 of working with others helping others without demand most of us sense that real tolerance of other people's shortcomings and viewpoints and a respect for their opinions are and attitudes which make us more useful to others our very lives as x problem drinkers depends upon our constant thought of others and how we may help meet their needs. There's the solution, page 30. Of course, the sixth step or the last idea that they were working with was praying to a God as you understood him. And Bill had said in his talk, even if you tried it as an experiment. And here, we're now at step three. many of us said to our maker as we understood him god i offer myself to thee to build with me and do with me as i will relieve me of the bondage of self that i may better do thy will take away my difficulties that victory over them may bear witness to those i would help of thy power thy love and thy way of life. May I do thy will always. We thought well before taking this step, making sure we were ready, that we could at last abandon ourselves utterly to him. How it works. And here we go. When ready, we say something like this. My creator, I'm now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad. I pray that you remove from me every single defect of character which stands in my way of my usefulness to you and my fellows. Grant me strength as I go out from here to do your bidding. Amen. We have then completed step seven. You can see how Bill expanded upon these and created the 12 steps by using the original ideas that they had picked up in the Oxford group that they were using to stay sober. When ready, we said something like, my creator, I'm now willing to have a little bed. I thought I just read this, Tim. I'm going to skip that page. prayed to god as you understood him understand him on awakening let us think about the 24 hours ahead we consider our plans for the day before we begin we ask god to direct our thinking especially asking that it be divorced from self-pity dishonest or self-seeking motives Under these conditions, we can employ our mental faculties with assurance. For after all, God gave us brains to use. Our thought life will be placed on a much higher plane when our thinking is cleared of wrong motives. That was into action, page 99. so you can see how the original ideas that he wrote down in 1953 and numbered them six steps you can clearly see how he enlarged upon these and that's what he said throughout his life that he would be that he enlarced upon these so that there would be no wiggle room as we go through the day we pause when agitated or doubtful and we ask for right thought or action we constantly remind ourselves we're no longer running a show humbly saying to ourselves many times each day thy will be done into action page 100 now we'll get into some of the other people not just Bill, because all of that was Bill W. And now we want to talk about some of the big book stories and where they referenced and how they referenced to Bill W's six steps. The headings use Bill W.'s April 53 wording. All quotations are from the 39 first edition and personal stories, pages 183 through page 396. And here we go. Admit its hopelessness. This was from the story of businessman's recovery, Bill Riddell. This is page 244 in the first edition. now the picture you see is from the original manuscript the book that started it all and tim uh selected some of these pictures just to show you know the the printer's manuscript and how that was coming together but here on page 244 finally i dimly began to get the realization that during 20 years of continual drinking every expedient I had tried, and I had try them all, had failed me. I hated to admit the fact even to myself that I just couldn't lick booze. I was licked. I was desperate. I was scared. our southern friend fitzmael i'm in the hospital for alcoholics i'm an alcoholic the insane asylum lies ahead i wish i were dead as i have often wished before again, hopelessness a different slant Harry Brink, page 253 within 60 days after leaving the hospital the second time I was pounding at the door willing to do anything to conquer the vicious thing that had conquered me continuing fired again Wally Gillum I had learned my lesson I knew definitely that I couldn't take even one drink I wanted to get married so I planned very earnestly to get another job stay sober and save some money why did I take that first drink I honestly don't know hopelessness now getting honest with oneself and here fits mayo page 236 suddenly a thought comes can all the worthwhile people i have known be wrong about god i find myself thinking about myself and a few things that i had wanted to forget. I began to see I am not the person I thought myself, that I had judged myself by comparing myself to others and always to my own advantage. It is a shock. Wow. To just face the truth about yourself and to see that you look down on people. And here on page 39, on page 239. Halfway down the driveway, a thought strikes me. I'll be honest anyway. I'll tell my wife what I'm going to do. When I'm through speaking, the whole idea has become absurd. Not a trace of fear is in me. I laugh at the insanity of it. getting honest with self joe doppler the european drinker page 214 of the first edition he went on talking and told me that he had found the plan as a basis of love and practice of christ's injunction love thy neighbor as thyself taking that as a foundation he reasoned that if a man followed that rule, he could not be selfish. I could see that. And further, he said God could not accept me as a sincere follower of divine law unless I was ready to be thoroughly honest about it. That was perfectly logical. My church taught that. I had always known in theory we talked to about personal morals you can see how these early steps these these guys did not have the 12 steps they had the word of mouth they had what they were picking up at the oxford group meetings they had with what they weren't sharing with one another you saw frank amos's report from back in 1938 and frank amos report in there did not mention the oxford group he was talking about alcoholics he was talking about what they were doing together he was not talking about the meetings of the oxfor group although the principles had come from as he mentioned the good book and other materials that they were reading and dr bob reinforced that here this idea of getting honest with another person florence rankin the feminine victory i was eased out of the mess and in a day or two had a long talk with one of the crowd i dragged out all my sins of commission and omission i told everything i could think of that might be the cause of creating a fear situation, a remorse situation or shame situation. It was pretty terrible. I thought then to lay myself bare that way but I know now that such is the first step away from the edge of the precipice um wow you know the fear situation the remorse situation the shame situation bill covers so many of these things in the steps when he gets to step six seven we start talking about character defects here get honest with another and fits you says Then he asked me if I'd be willing to right all my wrongs I have ever done to anyone, no matter how wrong I thought they were. Am I willing to be honest with myself about myself and tell someone about myself? Am I will to think of other people and of their needs instead of myself? to get rid of the drink problem i'll do anything i replied the first edition stories are so powerful as i'm reading this i remember my sponsor who got sober you know from the second generation he got sober in 1951 he said when you transfer the obsession off of self to that of service to others is when we get up stand up and stay up making amends and here's hank the unbeliever said he couldn't call back the hellish things he had done but he figured life might be a ledger page. If he did a little good here and there, maybe the score would be evened up someday. Just going out and making amends. Here's Fitz Mayo. I see where I've been wrong in some respects. I do not feel angry anymore. I return home and say I'm sorry for my wrong i'm quiet again but i've not seen yet that i should do some constructive acts of love without expecting any return i shall learn this after some more explosions the the honesty of of these members of conveying their stories and what had they had experienced and here and that's one of the reasons i you know really look at the book alcoholics anonymous as the book of experience because that's what they were giving us here the backslider walter bray taking love is a basic command i discovered that my faithful attempt to practice a law of love led me to clear myself from certain dishonesties the law of love helping others without demand and here's what dr bob had to share the the uh interesting part of all this and not all these sort of details but the uh condition that we two fellows were in we had both been associated with the same a bunch of people here in new york and i and akron i had been associated with them in fact for two years and a half he for five months he had acquired this idea of serving that i had not but i had uh done an immense amount of reading which they recommended I had refreshed my memory on the Good Book, and I'd had an excellent training in that as a youngster. They told me that I should go to their meetings regularly, and I did every week. They said I should affiliate myself with some church, and we did that. And they also said that I should cultivate the habit of prayer. And I did that, at least to quite a considerable extent for me, but I got tight every night. And I mean that, it turned once in a while, it was practically every night, and I couldn't understand what was wrong. I had done all these things that these good people told me to do, every one of them. And I fought very faithfully and sincerely, but I still continued to overindulge. But the one thing that they hadn't told me was the one things that Bill had, the instruction to attempt to be helpful to somebody else. So we immediately started to look around for prospects, and it wasn't long before one appeared in the form of a man whom you all know, at least a great many of you know, a good friend of Akron. Now, I knew that this Bill was a Sunday school superintendent. And I also thought that he probably forgot more about the good book every night than I ever knew. and who was I to be trying to tell him about it and made me feel somewhat hypocritical it is quite a job for me to talk to him on that sort of subject but anyway we both did and I'm very glad to say the conversation fell on fertile ground Then in October, we had three dumped in our laps almost simultaneously. But the point I wanted to bring out was the fact that in my mind the spirit of service is of prime importance although it has to be backed up with some knowledge of the subject the uh the information that dr bob was providing there and he mentioned that the one thing the one key thing that that he was missing after attending these oxford group meetings for two and a half years the key thing that bill wilson brought to him was this idea of service to take this message to someone else and it's interesting that dr bob lived that throughout his life and his last talk that he gave to alcoholics anonymous he said if you simmered this program down to two things those two things would be love and service and we can now see the relationship between bill and bob and how bob was influenced by bill with bill saying we have to be of service to others and dr. Bob's story dr. bob nightmare page 192 and 93 I spent a great deal of time passing on what I had learned to others who want needed badly I do it for four reasons sense of duty two it's a pleasure three because i'm doing so i'm paying my debt to the man who took time to pass it on to me and four because every time i do i take out a little more insurance for myself against a possible slip here's Archie Trowbridge the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous in Detroit and Archie was brought stayed at Dr. Bob's house for 10 and a half months and lived with Dr. Bob and Ann Smith and did what they did and you know he was the one that was afraid of everything and the stories of Ann Smith walking him down the street so he could begin to get his confidence in how she nurtured and helped him. But here's Archie talking about when he got back to Michigan. At that time, alcoholism was with the exception of a few advanced men who had spent time and study on it, such as Dr. Silkworth in New York, alcoholism was unknown as a disease. The alcoholic, in the public mind, was an ornery cuss who didn't want to stop drinking and had no willpower. However, by talking to people on street corners and anybody who would listen to me, and by talking to personnel men in factories and to ministers and to those doctors that I could get hold of, I got a seed planted amongst a number of people, not themselves alcoholic prospects, but people who were likely to come in contact with the problem of alcoholism. I should explain that my disposition was such that I couldn't and would have been no good at running in and out of bars and trying to sell this business cold turkey to some drunk I had to go about it in a roundabout way of getting prospects where they were most likely to crop up. However, I did get that spring, in March, my first prospect, and he was a Lulu. i was staying with a doctor one of my closest friends and he came home for supper one night and he said i've got a man for you he's down on park avenue in a dollar a day hotel He's tried to commit suicide twice this week. Does he know anything? Does he want to stop drinking? I don't know. Have you ever heard of us? No. Well, it was my duty to go and see him. I took a bus from east side downtown and went through a lot of torture for half an hour on the bus. What was I going to say to this fellow? Every time I got all wrought up about it, I finally said to myself, wait a minute, your job is to get in the same room with that man and see what happens next. I just love that clip from Archie Trowbridge it was like he was the first EAP you know going into the factories and going in and talking to the employers and letting them know that he had a solution he had nowhere to take people yet he had just returned to michigan there was no sober members of alcoholic synonymous and archie was he was by himself and this is what this man who was so filled with fear just a year before when we went to dr bob's house that he could not step outside was going into factories he says i couldn't go into bars and you know that's what they were doing they didn't they had to find people to work with helped others without demand and this is uh from hanks uh the unbeliever page on 97 you say they claim they are cured and they make an avocation of passing it on to others and later he could visualize a great fellowship of us quietly passing this from one alcoholic from one alcoholic to alcoholic, nothing organized no ministers, no missionaries, what a story thought we'd have to do it to get well here's our fearful one Archie Trowbridge I have found a joy in living that has nothing to do with money or material success I know that incomparable happiness that comes from helping some other fellow get straightened down European drinker Joe Doppler it wasn't very long until my doctor friend sent me to tell another alcoholic what my experience had been this duty together with my weekly meetings with my fellow alcoholics and my daily renewal of my contract i originally made with god have kept me sober when nothing else did the salesman page 323 every morning i read a part of the bible and asked god to carry me through the day safely i've been sober for two years kept that way by submitting my natural will to the higher power and that is all there is to it that submission wasn't just a single act however it became a daily duty. Here's Fitzmao. God, here I am and here are all of my troubles. I've made a mess of things and can't do anything about it. You take me and all my troubles and do anything you want with me. Now there's a surrender. the truth freed me paul stanley page 338 are you right with a father who knows your needs before you ask your business is business with god's work i don't know whether that call that calls for you to go and collect a bill sell some new contract or sit quietly and pray. But your father knows, and if you will but permit him, he will direct you." Ralph Furlong, another prodigal story. then the next day a fine fellow came and in halting but effective way told me how he had placed himself in god's hand and keeping almost before i knew it I was asking God to clean me up. Dick Stanley, there are, it seems to me, four steps to be taken by one who is a victim of alcoholism. First, have a real desire to quit. Second, admit that you can't. Third, ask for his ever-present help. And fourth, accept and acknowledge this help. prayed to God as we understood him the simple words thy will be done and the simple idea of honesty and of helping others are taking on new meaning for me I should not be surprised to find myself coming to an astonishing conclusion that God whoever or whatever he may be is infinitely more capable of running this universe than I am. At last, I believe I am on my way. Well, in conclusion, the evidence from the Amos Report, Bill's Six Steps and the Oxford Group writings, AA Pioneer Testimonies, the first edition big book, converge on the same reality. Long before the 12 steps were finalized, there was already a coherent functioning program of recovery. It was transmitted orally, practiced in community, and preserved in writing. The story of AA is not one of sudden invention in 1939, but of gradual crystallization of principles rooted in the Oxford Group's practice, refined in Akron and New York, and validated in the lived experiences of their first members. This heritage forms the bedrock of Alcoholics Anonymous and I want to share with you that a bell is not a bell until we ring it and a song is not a song until we sing it and love wasn't put in our hearts to stay. Love is only love when we give it away. Thank you for being part of this this evening. We appreciate you and I hope you've enjoyed it.