I've Got A Green Chip...And A Dog

"Every human being is the author of his own health or disease." Swami Sivananda Saraswati (September, 1887 - July, 1963)

Day 91

No, I didn’t go to an AA meeting.  That is still safely on my “yet” list.  Do you remember my elf friend I told you about, the one that was in detox and I was wondering whether I should reach out to her?  Well, she had a horrible accident when she got home and she was sent back to the hospital in an ambulance.  She is very lucky to be alive.  I emailed her and told her my story and just said I was there for her if she wanted to talk.  She emailed me back and said she was not offended at all that I emailed her and we started emailing back and forth.  Yesterday I went to visit her.  It was day 90 for me and since she isn’t getting around very well, she is on crutches, I took lunch and I bought a slice of cheesecake for us to share to celebrate my 90 days. She told me that at one time she had been sober for six years and then one small thing at work set her off and she’s been back on and off the roller coaster ever since.  She was doing well recently and catching the bus into Merida twice a week for meetings but then her sponsor moved back to Texas and she fell, both literally and figuratively. 

It is funny to think that we were walking along the same path without knowing it.  Now maybe we can walk together and nudge each other away from the potholes or reach out and grab for the other if one of us starts to fall.  And if we fall maybe we can help each other up.  I’ve got to remind myself not to run ahead as if I know the way, which I tend to do.  She has so much to teach me.  God brought her and I together in this strange place for a reason and we need each other to figure out why.

The new place where she is staying doesn’t allow dogs, so I said I would keep hers until she moves to a place that does or finds another home for her.  When I went to pick up Sandi, the dog,  yesterday morning my friend dug a green three month chip out of her pocket and gave it to me.  I promised I would give it back to her in a couple of months.

So today I’m just out there doing my best to hold on to my chip and train Sandi to be Stanley’s seeing-eye dog.  It’s not going very well, I just chased her across four lanes of traffic.  The only time Mexicans get in a hurry is when they are behind the wheel of a car.