Thousands Celebrate Tyler AA Aniversary

Thousands of people who have battled alcoholism gathered at Harvey Convention Center on Friday and Saturday to commemorate the 59th anniversary of Alcoholics Anonymous in Tyler.

"It gives us a chance to get together, and we really rely on each other to stay sober," said Kelly, chairman of the local AA chapter.

A Tyler bank president named Morris discovered AA in Dallas and initiated the first AA meeting in Tyler. The "Downtown" group met above the old Neil-Simpson drugstore on North Broadway Avenue.

Gradually, more groups were added, and Tyler now has 25 AA groups and hundreds of members.

Speakers traveled to Tyler from all over the country to share their stories of suffering, struggle, and ultimately, triumph.

"I used to carry wine in a Barbie Thermos to the fair," said Jean. "But because of God's grace and you people, I haven't had a drink since February of 1975."

Jean, mother of three and grandmother of eight, said she was raised as an only child with her grandparents after her mother died. Her father drank heavily, and "came and went drunk."

As a little girl, Jean perched on the sidewalk and watched her father drive away while intoxicated, and she said she thought she would never see him again.

"I never thought I'd do that to my children, but I did," she said.

Her husband introduced her to cigarettes, alcohol and raw oysters, she said, all of which she consumed in excess, soon surpassing him in her drinking habits.

She said she drank because it gave her a personality, it made her "5-7, blond and beautiful, so why not?"

But the habit was incredibly damaging to her entire family, she said. Her children were grown at the time, but she consistently drove while drunk, wrecking all of their cars but one, and even chased her husband around the kitchen with a butcher knife when he tried to take alcohol away from her.

Her son was finally the catalyst to her recovery. He begged her to promise him she would go to an AA meeting, her husband took her to the meeting and she began attending regularly.

"AA had to be all-or-nothing for me, and it was," she said. "I saw some people that were smiling, and there was hope in their eyes."

She gestured at the crowd, and thanked them.

"Everything I have, I have learned from you," she said. "You are my lifeline."

Other speakers shared their stories throughout the day, and the festivities went on in the evening with a barbecue and a dance.

Tyler Morning Telegraph