Kate P. AA Female

**Kate** (0:01)
All right, let me get myself organized here.
Katie, you're an alcoholic.
Oh my gosh, it was so sweet.
Laura had told me that she had relapsed after a lengthy period of sobriety, and I said, well, that's what, when she came back, she really started hearing that message. You know, you get a big picture of alcoholics anonymous, and you see that that happens more often than not. And so Charlie and I were in pretty much the same boat. We did not go back out. My first husband did, and it was tragic. And I take recovery very seriously, so I will have a blast tonight, I promise. But I just thank you, Laura, for being a great host and taking such good care of me. Really wonderful. And then Lee, I've gotten to know Lee, and we had a nice long talk just about, there's nothing better than hanging out in the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous. I'm telling you, so many folks that don't get that opportunity to do that, they drift, they do whatever, they really miss this incredible life we've been given. And it is incredible. It's got highs, it's got lows, but yet we have been, you know, plucked out of hell and put somewhere. And that doesn't mean you're not going to feel bad. But let me tell you, whatever I was living in before, no, thank you. I'd much rather be here. I've got sober October 28th of 1984 I am extremely grateful for that day. Thank you very much. I'll tell you, it's, I'm 41 years sober. I got sober at 26 I'll do the math. I'm 68 Just turned 68 last week. And, god dang, that's an eye-opening bunch of shit right there, I'll tell you.
That getting older thing, I'm like, what the heck? Now, and Lee and I were talking, he's got a seven in front of his zero. And so I said, how is that seven? I'm kind of, you know, I'm loving getting older. I love this. This, the rest is a little challenging. But this, I'd never surrender. I love what I got. But it's so interesting, because there's a lot of things that people just don't tell you about getting older. So you guys that are well into your 70s and possibly 80s, you don't mention how hard it is to put your underwear on. Okay?
You don't mention that it's difficult to hold in a fart. Okay? These are some things that is on tape for you guys that are younger. Be prepared. It's challenging. There's a couple of challenging things. It's not just the hearing.
We got, Marty and I were doing a workshop, a women's workshop, and we got off on that tangent, and we had a ball. I mean, just a ball. My home group is the Primary Purpose Group in Austin, Texas. We study the Big Book line by line, week after week. It's a whole lot more fun than it sounds. It's an interesting format. If you like learning the Big Book, there were many years I didn't care about learning the Big Book, but I love it today. It's a really great meeting. We meet on Tuesday nights at 2701 South Lamar. If you're ever in the area, we'd love to see you at the Austin New Church. And we got about 125 people in there studying the Book. And it's a really unique way to study what the founders found, what they found necessary, and how they put it in the Book. It was a very easy way for me to learn the Big Book, because I'm just not a strong comprehender. It's just never been really in my wheelhouse.
Some of you know I lost my husband about three years ago, and life moves on. I'm doing much better. Things are going much better. I mean, what are you going to do? Stay sad all your life? Come on. I mean, we've been given such a second chance here. So I'm really living my life to the fullest, but I do always like to say, he said I'm like taking a drink out of a fire hose. I'm a lot coming at you. And when he's here with me sharing, it's easier for him to say it than for me to say it, but it's an accurate statement. I'm extremely passionate about the Alcoholics Anonymous. I also like to say I'm the vessel to help you get connected to the power. I am not the power. I don't know what job you should take, what car you should buy, what boy you should date. I really do know what boy you should date, and it's not him, but we'll just leave that one at that.