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First-Meeting Gifts

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I went to my first OA meeting on a Saturday in March 1979. I was coming off a food binge of almost two years; it had started when my fiancée told me she didn’t want to marry me. The next day I’d gone off to the races. I gained over 100 pounds (45 kg) in a year, and didn’t see any way out from my preoccupation with food.

When I got to the meeting place, I saw lots of people hanging out near the entrance, and someone came up to me and said, “Hi, welcome. My name is ____. Would you like a hug?”

I paused, then said, “Sure.”

The greeter said, “Come on into the meeting. We’ll start in about ten minutes.”

There were about forty people there, and during the first half of the meeting, I heard several readings from OA and AA literature. I also saw more than ten people stand up and briefly qualify as sponsors, stating how long they’d been abstinent and how much weight they’d lost, gained, or maintained.

In the second half, a woman shared about her bingeing episodes in college: how she’d gained more than 50 pounds (23 kg), become demoralized, and finally turned to OA for help. I was impressed with her story, so at the end of the meeting I talked with her. I told her I identified with her eating episodes and asked if she’d sponsor me. She agreed, and asked me to phone her daily with my food plan. I said I would.

After the meeting, a small group of OA members went with me to a restaurant for lunch. I got to know some people a little bit better. I heard one woman suggest that I relax, slow down my speed of  eating, and socialize with the group. So I did. I learned something at that meal!

After lunch, I went to a city park and walked for about half an hour. There, I met one of the members I’d seen at the morning meeting. We talked and shared about OA and many other things. I made my first OA friend on that walk.

My first OA meeting gave me many valuable things:

  • a sponsor,
  • a list of other Tools to help me get and stay abstinent (the telephone is my favorite),
  • a saner way of eating,
  • Twelve Steps to work on,
  • a Fellowship of people recovering from compulsive eating who were willing to help me get started, and
  • encouragement to keep coming back.

I’m so glad I went to that meeting and glad I kept coming back. The excess weight is gone and has stayed off, and I’ve gained friends, sponsors and sponsees, and a wife and children.

Thank you, Saturday Morning Highland Park meeting, for your hospitality and love.

— Bob K., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA

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