Blog for October 5th, 2026
Everybody Knows my Name
I love writing these blogs, even if nobody but my husband reads them. Because it is my week in review and how staying clean and walking with the Lord and staying connected to my faith and recovery are vital to me, they keep me going in the right direction as they say. But it helps me see that even through the trials and tribulations of life, which we all have, there are also blessings and so much to be grateful for. God is good, all the time.
This week was another week of birthdays, planning, organizing, accomplishments and defeats. Trying to keep up day-to-day life can be a challenge at times, but it means that I am still living life and doing the best I can, with the Lord’s help of course. Two of my great grandkids had birthdays this week, the oldest great grandchild is thirteen now, wow, a teenager. I pray hard for her because she tends to fall into depression and isolates. The next oldest turned eight, he struggles with a mild autism malady. But they are both so precious and sweet. I pray extra for these two. I have six great grandchildren now and soon to be eight. I love them all very much.
Another couple of birthdays happened today, as I write this on Sunday. My oldest sponsees belly button birthday, I wanted to meet up with her, but she already had previous plans to go to the hot springs with a good friend. That’s awesome. I pray she has a wonderful time. Another is a girl friend in recovery with twelve years clean today, that I’ve known all of her recovery, even before this time around, she used to come and relapsed a couple of times, but finally, came to the program, totally surrendered. Which tells me, never give up on yourself and never give up on hope and surrendering.
She is a miracle and going to church with her on her 12th birthday was a blessing. I noticed that the church was packed! And while standing there, singing, looking around and as people come and go, I was filled with a grateful heart that I knew so many people there. I know some of them from being a member there, and some from high school. The guy in front of us told her that he and I graduated together, that is true. But he was a nice guy even back then, so I did not know him in high school, I was a bad girl and ran with the bad boys. Geeze!
We went for a taco after church, and our local little Del Taco was also jammed packed. Wow! People are just out and about everywhere, I love it. Of course, we seen a bunch of people we knew there too. I love that I live in a town where “everybody knows my name” like the theme song from the TV series Cheers, or they at least recognize me.
People I have history with in one faction or another wave, say hi or give hugs. The lady behind us was a co-worker at a school we taught at. This is a small town, but it warms the cockles of my heart. In fact, the first lady I ran into there is good friends with a lady my husband went to high school with here. She said she was going to see her today and will tell her hi for my husband. The other lady is battling cancer, prayers for her.
And least I forget, the recovering people of my town. This week, a guy that I used with back in 1978/79 (that now is two and a half years clean- yay) came over and helped my husband put the seats in his 1929 Model A Ford. He was a gift from God. We had just done our prayers and meditations, and I had prayed for a helper to come for my husband and thirty minutes later, Jessie showed up. Wow! God is good and so, the Model A will be ready in time for the car show this coming up weekend where they are celebrating one hundred years of route 66. Yay!
See what I mean, it’s nice to know people from around town in all kinds of different aspects. But, as they say, “you gotta take the good with the bad” and at the NA meeting last night, there were people there that I find disturbing and have bad blood with. The Poohbah was there, he shows up at random when he comes to town, ugh. He’s the guy that kicked out a group of addicts from our area; who does that? I wrote rebuttals and contested it, so he doesn’t care for me either. I mean, who does that? What kind of a person would Kick addicts out of recovery? Ugh!
And there was a couple there that had come around a long time ago and ripped off all of our meetings for our money and now they are back, nodding out in meetings, which I find disturbing and talking out the side of their necks. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to see them get some real recovery and get better and do better, but it doesn’t look like that’s their real intention. But hey, what do I know? Gods in charge and He may have awesome plans for them. I will stand back and let the Lord do His thing. This is just another case of having some kind of history with people in our town, in our program that give me the willies.
In fact, there has been such a huge “passing parade” of people who have come in and out of recovery in the forty-one years I’ve been here that I cannot remember them all, but many still know my name. Interesting. It doesn’t bother me that they know my name, but I hope it doesn’t bother them that I can’t remember them. I do love the familiarity and small town, small fellowship vibe we have here.
Still, the only one I really care about to know my name is my Higher Power, His name is Jesus and I love Him so much, I am ever so grateful He placed me in this small town, “where everybody knows my name.”
Question of the Week: Do you have a community where you are familiar with many of the people living there? It’s cool huh?
