Hi,
I have been in AA quite a while. I have had several friends. Good friends, friends who have
been through the thick and thin with me.
As a female---------I have found my female freindships important, in and out of AA.
I had a very good friend when I was a child. Her name was Lynn. I haven't heard from her
in years. BUT she was my BEST friend when I was a child. I have a friend now ---- a girlfriend, Nancy,
from my childhood, she was a friend of Lynn's too, she appeared recently in my life out of nowhere and we communicate again all the time. Why? Only HP knows. I live in Florida, she lives in Oregon.
I had a best friend in High School -- Betty, we are still friends but she lives in Ohio and I see her
about twice a year. We catch up on the local gossip and I come back to Florida.

I have had lots of different friends in AA. Female friends and male friends. I talk to Nancy, I don't see Lynn, and I see Betty once a year. My friends in AA, in Virginia and in Flroida are a bit different. When I see my other friends-----------non AA friends-----------we catch up, when I see my old AA friends--------well, I just fit in---------almost like I never left. It's most interesting. I hold both types of friends as very dear but my AA friends-------------they are a little bit more like family. They are like the sky down here in Flroida before and after a storm. They change, I change, different colors, different hues, different temperments, and yet when I see them after a while------------we have the common AA ground. Our first questions are about how our programs are going or what is knew that AA or our fellow companions in AA have taught us.

It's a most interesting phenomenon. People I know---------friends--------in AA and friends I have had for years outside of AA. They are different. I am not sure that one is better then the other but --------as always-----------when I go to an AA meeting I know I am home where I belong.

My mother is moving out of my childhood home in the town where my non AA friends are living. My family lived there 51 years. When I go home now my mother will be living in an over 55 community. I will have to visit her and stay with her there, in the same town that I grew up in but not in my childhood home.
I will visit Betty. I will probably visit other high school friends.
BUT
I will go to AA meetings there so that I feel like I have come home.
Thank God for AA.
Hugs,
PamW

I was RuneScape Gold,in my mid-20s (about 10 years ago) when this occurred. A friend had a small group of us over and we were drinking and carrying on， and by night， we were all feeling pretty good. At around 3 in the morning， we had the brilliant idea of going outside and wandering the RuneScape Gold neighborhood.
For starters，archlord gold, the neighborhood was in a not-so-great part of town， pretty well-known as a haven for drug users of all kinds， mostly crackheads， as well as gangsters and general thugs. While I didn’t live too far away， the difference was night and day. I knew better than to wander this area， especially at night， but off we went. To add to that， we were pretty tipsy， talking quite loudly for the hour， I’m sure， just generally being archlord gold disorderly.
We started last chaos gold,crossing a small park， when we were approached very suddenly by a short， grinning black man. He appeared to be in his late 40s， possibly early 50s， with a thin afro， some of it gray. His smile was absolutely beaming and it made me smile hugely， too. It was the most infectious smile I’d ever seen. In fact， this man had the most infectious spirit I’d ever encountered. I felt joyous beyond belief. Immediately we greeted and hugged each other. We called one another by name without introducing ourselves， and although I can very clearly remember him calling me by my last chaos gold name.
I couldn’t wow cd keys,remember his name even as soon as the next day. But at that moment， we absolutely knew each other， absolutely loved each other， like no two people had loved each other before. The only other words we spoke to one another were， "I know you." And we said this almost in synch， as the hugeness of that thought just occurred to both of us. Our souls were absolutely intimate. The moment lasted about 30 seconds. My friends merely watched with astonishment because something was just generally so bizarre about that wow cd keys moment.
Then maple story power leveling,the man moved on around us， and I didn’t watch him go， but could see him leaving out of the periphery of my vision. I have no idea why that little detail strikes me as being so important， to this day， but it does. I’m sure I smiled on for another good minute， just being extremely happy. I was absolutely， positively， 100% no longer drunk from that moment on. The episode， the "meeting，" was not the result of being drunk， but it sure ended it.I don’t know who that man was. I’d never met him in my life. I’m quite sure if you asked him， he’d say the same thing about me today. I don’t know why I know maple story power leveling that.
What had been dog carriers,so beautiful that night the next day scared the hell out of me. I couldn’t understand what had happened. I remembered vividly what had happened， but it made no sense to me. Likewise， my friends all contend it’s the strangest thing any of them ever experienced. They all felt something "heavy" occurring as the two of us met. They somehow knew that we didn’t actually know each other， despite our reaction to one another.Something purely spiritual happened that night， I’m quite sure of it. I’ll never forget dog carriers it.