The following entry originally appeared in my areas "Clean and Free Times" newsletter. The author revealed themself to me and I requested permission to reprint their newsletter submission here even though they wish to remain [generally] anonymous. There will be other submissions that occur in this manner and, whether others approach me to submit something on their behalf or I approach them to request permission to do so, they will be listed under the "submitted blog entries" category along with submissions received through other means. I will not add this statement to future "submitted blog entries". Thank you.
"Friends"
I always thought I had the best friends there were to have. Then I got clean and they disappeared! I hung around the fellowship called NA; the longer I hung around the more friends I made – real friends. It was a new experience for me. They wanted nothing from me. I could not believe it. I did not have to give them anything… Wow!
One Saturday I got sick and went to the hospital to find out I had to have an emergency surgery the same day. I was still in the ER when my sponsor called (by the way, the best!). She called just to talk. Then I told her where I was and what was going on. She said, "I’ll be right down". I told her it would be okay and that she didn’t have to come.
However, in about an hour she arrived with five of my other friends. They didn’t come other than because they are my REAL friends, and they were truly concerned. I didn’t have to give them anything. I didn’t have to buy them anything. They just dropped what they were doing and came just for me.
Then about a month later I found myself in a psych ward in a very different kind of pain. I was admitted on a Friday night and my clean date anniversary was the next day. [Never been there clean before…Wow!] Once again, my friends were there for me, eight in all, each one from this wonderful, amazing fellowship called Narcotics Anonymous. I was completely and totally blown away by the outpouring of love.
My friends here in NA are like no others. I love all of you and you can’t do anything about it.
Anonymous
Anonymous Cafe 