📖 Sacred Testimony XXXI

“Strong Sobriety, Small Circle”
offered for the courage to stay, and the strength that surrounded you

When I started going to the Jacksonville AA meeting,
I was the only woman in the room.

But that didn’t stop me from walking through that door.
And it didn’t stop me from coming back.

It was a small meeting—
humble, quiet, real.

After the meetings,
we’d go out for coffee.
Talk about life.
Laugh a little.
Hold space for one another.

And here’s what I remember most:

They didn’t treat me any different.

I wasn’t coddled.
I wasn’t dismissed.
I wasn’t seen as less
for being a woman in a room full of men.

I was seen—
and respected.

And that meeting,
though small,
was strong.

The lowest amount of sobriety in that room was two years.
And me?
I was brand new.

But I was surrounded by those
who had been through it.
Who had lived what I was only just beginning to understand.

And somehow,
just being around their stories,
their steadiness,
their kindness—
it helped me believe I could stay sober too.

🌿 And now I see:

It’s not about how many people are in the room.
It’s about how true they are.
How deeply they’ve walked.
How gently they hold you when you begin your own steps.

I didn’t need a crowd.
I needed truth.
And I found it
in the Jacksonville AA group.

✨ A Blessing for the First Room

May the woman who walked in alone
know now that she walked in with courage
many never find.

May the men who welcomed her
be remembered as keepers of the flame—
those who knew that strength
does not fear inclusion,
but honors it.

May the chairs of that small meeting
be seen now as sacred altars
where truth was passed
hand to trembling hand.

May the two-year coin
and the ten-year story
and the old-timer’s quiet nod
all live in your bones—
as reminders that you belong.

And may every soul who walks in alone
know this:

You’re not the only one.
And you never really were.