When I listen to unfamiliar speakers I like to make sure there is some AA foundation behind what I’m hearing. One of the safest sources of quality speakers is the annual founders Day celebration in Akron Ohio. I’ve heard Sandy B., Burns Brady, Paul W. and others speaking on this occasion, and for that reason felt safe listening to Cricket R, speaking in 2005, the 70thAnniversary of AA’s founding.
Click the image for Founders Day web site
Identification with the speaker is one of the most important functions of the AA speech. From the beginning, we are taught to look for the similarities not the differences; and because of this we can stay sober and gain inspiration regardless of differences in gender, education, and background in general.
Focusing on what we share as alcoholics is critical if we are to gain anything from the sharing that takes place in most AA meetings every day. That said, I don’t think I’ve ever listened to a speaker with whom I’ve had less in common than Cricket R. It’s not that she’s a woman, or she’s from the south, or that her past was dramatically different than mine.
What I think poses the biggest challenge as I listened to Cricket’s story is the depth of the poverty from which she has risen. Don’t get me wrong, I grew up on the wrong side of the tracks and have anything but an elitist heritage. But I was struck immediately by the complete lack of… everything in Cricket’s childhood. Clothes, toys, money, and even education are things she grew up believing she did not deserve. This is a woman who makes her stay in reform school appear to be the high point of her childhood, filled with regular meals and indoor plumbing. Stop for a minute and consider what your life would be if Reform School provided the warmest of your childhood memories.
With that lead in, Cricket’s life of crime and prostitution mixed with alcoholism seems as close to normal as this person could ever hope for. But, if nothing had changed, she wouldn’t have been speaking at AKRON on our 70th anniversary, would she?
Cricket’s journey in AA is, no surprise here, not at all typical, with just passing reference to the steps. She does claim that AA helped her get married; in fact, since coming to AA, Cricket claims to have had 12 husbands… and two of them her own. (Ba da bump…). More importantly, through AA Cricket got something else, something we all take for granted, Literacy, decorum, and dignity. Early on, her sponsor tricked her into reading “How it works”, and Cricket passed the test with flying colors. Her sponsor however had opened the book to Chapter 3, not 5, and Cricket couldn’t tell the difference.
I’ve heard a lot of testimony as to all that AA can give us, but Cricket’s joy at learning to read and learning how to use a knife and fork properly seem as significant as any I’ve heard. And equally moving is her description of how “clean” she felt when the men of AA hugged her seeking to feel only her heart.
The weird thing is, when the tape is over, the listener is left hoping to learn what’s happened since. Cricket reveals she’s been diagnosed with terminal cancer and doesn’t know how she’s going to get through it. If anyone knows, I’d sure like to hear.
R 
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