Gary B. - from Indianapolis - Gopher State Roundup in Minneapolis MN ~ ( 7-1-78 ) aa speaker

Gary B (AA) of Indianapolis - Gary grew up on a farm in Cheyenne, WY. He started drinking as a teenager. He joined the military but was discharged after six months. Gary returned home and married his high school girlfriend; they had three girls. As he continued drinking, his life fell apart. At 24, Gary's father-in-law put him on a bus and sent him to a rehab facility. He got his introduction to AA and became sober in 1964. Returning sober, he was provided with an opportunity to get a college degree in accounting. After completing school in 1968, he moved to Denver to work in the oil industry. In Denver, he started attending the Denver Young People Group. Gary was sponsored by Paul M and Gary sponsored Don P and Bob O. Gary was one of the participants who worked the steps together with a group of 14 in Denver, going line by line through the Big Book, all of whom are still sober or who have died sober. Gary moved to Indianapolis in 1977 and is a Dignitary Sympathy AA Group member in Indianapolis. With over 20 years of sobriety, Gary found himself in trouble. In 1985, he contacted Paul M , who became his sponsor. Paul had Gary work a 4th step again. Paul recruited a group of men from his group, the LaGrange group, Who each shared their 5th step with Gary first, and then Gary shared his 5th step in return. This process resulted in Gary sharing his 5th step nine times, each time with a different person, over the weekend. At the end of the weekend, the group met together and assisted Gary in writing his amends list. Gary has been a circuit speaker for many years. He was involved in starting the first Fellowship of the Spirit Conference in 1993 in Breckenridge, Colorado. In many of his talks, Gary refers to a Denver group member, Ernie. Ernie disappeared and then reappeared transformed. Ernie, during a geographical relocation solution attempt, stumbled across Bob W , who had taken him back through the steps which changed Ernie's life. This is mentioned as many of Bob's talks are available on this site.