Big Shoes

The past year in the AA community I belong to, has sadly brought the death of a few AA "icons" for lack of a better description. I personally did not know any of them well, and some not at all, but that did not keep there influence from touching my life, my recovery. Currently a dear friend who has had a very marked influence on the recovery community in this area, awards and buildings named after him for example, has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. He has months left at the most.
This man has truly helped millions of people. Before I even knew him he had helped me, by helping others that came before me, so that they could help me. The very simple way AA works. We all help each other to the best of our ability.
I consider myself both fortunate and blessed to have him as a part of my life. He is a loving and generous spirit. I can't tell you what his hugs do to brighten my day. I will continue to cherish each visit until the God of his understanding brings him home.
All of this has had me thinking of a few things. A real basic fact of how blessed the people of AA really are. We too have a terminal illness. This disease will kill us, no doubt about it. But it does not have to. If we work our program the way it is laid out we can keep from dying of this disease. By following the basics, pray, go to meetings, talk, be active, don't drink, ask for help. Not a single shot or hospital room and we can choose NOT to DIE of this disease. Could that others have the same options when faces with a life sentence.
The other thing stems from a conversation I had with another "long timer". She has a number of years in the program, but is herself on the young side of life. She commented that all her mentors were dying. That it was time for herself and her hubby to start picking up the slack, that they would be the "old timers". She wondered aloud at how she could ever fill there shoes. The answer was quick. You can't. Not a one of us can hope to accomplish the same things that these people have. It just can't be done. Their shoes cannot be filled. However, because of their influence on this up and coming "old timer" .... New shoes are created, new paths are made. There is no saying if it will be better or worse, that is not the goal. It will be different. That too is how this program works. At the very core it stays the same, but the people in it change and adapt. Find new words or ways to express their own history so that others can learn from them. And the cycle will continue. It does not start again, it continues. This women learned from those before her, I learn from her, and down the line others may learn from me and continue to pass it on .......