5 Year Pinning

In the GA program, certain milestones receive "pinnings." They are available for 1 year, 5 years, 10 years, and each 5 years following. Regions do them a little different. Whomever is being pinned, can make a lot of decisions for what happens at their pinning. Tonight was my 5 year celebration of recovery. I've spent a while preparing for it... Deciding whom to ask to do each of the program roles: chair, combo book readings, walk-through, day at a time reading, gam-anon reading, business, speakers, pinning, invocation, etc. I made electronic presentations for during dinner, during the readings, and during my speech (which lasted about 30 minutes). I designed a printed program and a bookmark for all the guest. But I love doing all these things and in reality, I did the easy work. Survivor ordered and put together food for 80-100 people and brought practically half her kitchen to the location - now that's the hard work. Wow! I am always amazed by the lengths my friends will go to to help and support me.

The message of my speech is that even in recovery, we face hard things, but facing them in recovery, allows us to face them head on and then move forward. It is about hope. I ended with this quote:

I really like that quote, because if we choose despair instead of hope in our dark days, our days will only get darker. That is what feeds our addiction.

I was amazed to see that several people brought gifts to the pinning as well. Call me strange, but I did kind of look at them funny, I mean, I'm about to self surrender and can't bring anything. Well, most of the envelopes had cash or gift cards. More that what most people would likely receive. Like, wow! And all the gifts were incredibly appropriate and given with thought. One gift stood out, as it is a white hat with a dragonfly and "Dragonfly Hazel" sewn into it. I will cherish all my gifts, but that cap is really unique!

So, what does my pinning have to do with my going to prison? I just told a room of nearly 100 individuals my story - not just of the devastation of an addiction, but the promises of recovery. I focused on the fact that life does not get perfect or even easy after surrendering to GA, but with the tools to face our consequences face on, we can keep our hope!