a Thanksgiving meal with my mother

I have not eaten any meal, much less a holiday meal, with my mother in 8 years. Today, we shared an early Thanksgiving Dinner at her assisted living facility. The food pretty good (amazingly good for a senior living place) and the place was packed with residents and family members. Management had set aside a tiny table in a reasonably quiet out-of-the-way spot that worked well for us. The staff at Sunrise Assisted Living do an amazing job of providing a high quality of customer service.

Immediately after spending a holiday meal with my mother, I promptly went to a half of one and all of another 12-step meetings at the local Alano Club. I got the pick the topic for second meeting. As faithful readers might likely think by now, we discussed gratitude.

Alano Clubs are also known as first-step halls (admitted we were powerless over alcohol) due to being where newcomers come in all torn-up and full of tales of woe. Today, they were nearly all able to stay on topic discussing what they were grateful for whether it was being at their first meeting or having a really great life with the wife, kids and a good job that they loved. Pretty surprising for an Alano Club afternoon slip-signers meeting. Slips are like timecards for treatment and courts to show that someone is in compliance with attending at least X number of meetings each week. X is usually 2 and sometimes more than 2.

I am grateful for a tasty Thanksgiving meal with my mother. For the Alano Club with lots of 12-step meetings located between her place and mine—it is about 10 seconds out of my way when coming home.