Andy C, long-time AA mentor, brings you these meditations on alcoholism and recovery.Where did these GEMS come from?When I am listening to fellow alcoholics share at Meetings, I take notes. Not transcriptions, just notes of things that catch my attention. By jotting a reminder, I can later recall the thought.One night, my sponsor asked me, "what do you do with your notes?""I keep them and reread them, often the next morning during my morning quiet time," I replied. "They bring to mind the wisdom and humour that I heard. I meditate on the comments and see the insights that I missed. I feel grateful all over again... then I throw them away.""You should write your thoughts down and share them," he said, "you might have some fun and it might do some good."So I started writing my meditations. In the beginning, I only shared them with my sponsees, who passed the notes to their sponsees, and then others in the Program. A couple of the recipients, involved in treatment centres with newsletters, reposted them in their newsletters and websites. They seemed to attract attention, so I started a website and posted them online.One day I thought, "maybe a book is a good idea."A Large Print edition is available with ISBN 9781999240769

Andy C. has captured large elements of his sobriety with this book. Many of the lessons portrayed in the stories are from his experiences and observations as a successful lawyer, social leader and parent.He was born in small town Ontario, Canada. He sobered up in his third year of law school, November 3, 1977. He graduated from Lakehead University with a Commerce and Finance Degree and then completed a Law Degree at the University of Toronto. He moved to Calgary. He married his wife Doreen and they have two children.For Andy, not drinking was a first spiritual awakening. He's been blessed with subsequent spiritual awakenings as the result of the practice of the program of Alcoholics Anonymous and good sponsorship.Andy is active in service work in AA, and was been instrumental in the foundation and ongoing growth of Simon House in Calgary. He was also a leader in the Lawyers' Assist Program of Alberta, assisting lawyers in crisis often with booze and alcohol. Andy is involved in prodigious 12-step work. He is sponsored and sponsors others, and has a Home Group.You can find Andy C at https://the4thdimension.ca