In 1997 I attended the World Convention of OA held in New York, NY. I was fortunate enough at the time to have been invited to speak at a workshop being held during the convention. I spoke a lot in those days, so I wasn’t particularly nervous about having to speak in front of such a large gathering. However, as I began my speaking, I happened to look in the back of the room and noticed our cofounder Rozanne sitting in the audience! Suddenly, I became very nervous! Here I was, 10 years into a pretty solid recovery, but yet felt nervous that someone who had been such an inspiration to me, was sitting there, seemingly hanging onto every word I said. Well, I got through the presentation, and afterwards went up to Rozanne, who had just published her new book ” Beyond Our Wildest Dreams”, which I had purchased at the event. I introduced myself to Rozanne, and she was gracious and humble, and signed my book, and it said ” Ed, Keep Coming Back”. I never forgot meeting Rozanne, and I took her advice for more than another 10 years! Alas, in 2002, I fell into relapse, and made the fateful decision to stop going to meetings! It took 10 years before I would eventually return! Unfortunately, after just a year of returning to OA, I left the room again in 2013, and did not return until I moved to Kentucky in 2017, finally returning in April of 2018. I have been actively attending meetings every since! I often find myself thinking of Roanne’s advice to me, and how my life might have been better had I never left the rooms? But OA has taught me that we will not regret the past or wish to shut the door on it; and we will see how our experience can benefit others. The PIPO committee was formed in an effort to bringing the OA message to the public, via specific outreach, such as public media, and even word-of-mouth. All of us who have been given this miracle of recovery, are charged with trying to carry this message to those who still suffer. Rozanne dedicated her life to carrying this message; God willing, I intend to spend the remainder of my life carrying this message! We don’t have to be perfect, we just have to be willing to do what we can, when we can! There is so much hope in OA, and for a hopeless compulsive overeater like myself, hope was what I needed when I first came into the program in 1987, and hope is what keeps me in these rooms 36 years later! Tell every newcomer, and returning members, the three most important words ever uttered at an OA meeting, is to just Keep Coming Back, no matter what, please, Keep Coming Back!
– Ed L.