Bill W. Day Commentary June 3rd, 2001

E. DORSET VT- The local forecast called for Sunday June 3rd 2001 to dawn as a rainy day as the much anticipated "Bill W. Day" neared. We were not disappointed. There was nary an umbrella to be found in nearby Manchester VT. Recovering people of all ages sat with baited breath on the porch of The Wilson House hoping the skies would clear. The weather for the grave side service looked, well... grave
Two Hundred and Six people sloshed up the gentle slope in the central Green Mountains just before 1 PM in anticipation of the service. And it rained.. and rained.. ( and rained...) As it has for many years, the service started promptly at 1PM. I looked up, brushed the rain out of my eyes, and said a quiet prayer. No, not one of gratitude. Nor one of thanks. ( that came later..:-) I asked the God of my understanding to please... LET THE RAIN STOP. Mind you, I have no problem with instant gratification in the prayer department. Our Book has many mentions of the miracles of recovery. At 1:10PM the rain stopped. The Service stated with all present reciting the Serenity Prayer. This was promptly followed by several people in attendance sharing in an open meeting style their experience, strength, hope, and gratitude. The rain continued to hold off for the remainder of the afternoon. The tradition of having speakers who knew Bill W. personally continued again this year. Thanks to Scotty M, the guest speaker at the 2PM meeting on the lawn of the Griffith House in the heart of E. Dorset. In addition to sharing memories of shuffling Bill around to meetings in New York in the late 1960's, Scotty also requested that members in attendance keep the message of recovery simple. Very reminiscent of Bill and Bobs last meeting in this life, when Dr. Bob told Bill that "we need to keep this thing simple and not louse it up with all kinds of Freudian complexes."