Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services Inc

Author:Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Published: 2015-02-02T00:00:00+00:00

XIV. A.A. and St. Thomas Hospital

Neither Dr. Bob nor Sister Ignatia ever recorded the exact time they started talking about treating alcoholics at St. Thomas Hospital. Their conversations on the subject stretched out over a considerable period, with Dr. Bob getting more serious as the situation deteriorated at City Hospital.

“We often discussed the problem of alcoholism and the tragedies caused by excessive drinking,” according to Sister Ignatia, who said she could never understand why she must turn away one drunk on the verge of the D.T.’s and admit another with a bashed-in head. Both were sick and needed help.

She recalled that all they could do for the man nearing D.T.’s was call the police, because otherwise he might get into an accident. In fact, she was able to name five men who had been in “terrific accidents” and had later come into A.A. This included two of the earliest members, Bill V. H. and Dick S.

“I believe that Doctor must have had this in mind for some time,” Sister Ignatia said. “There was an accident once where an intoxicated driver was the cause of three or four machines’ colliding. They took some patients to City and some to our place, and it seems to me I said to Doctor, ‘Isn’t it a pity someone can’t do something for these people before they get into a wreck like this?’

“He said, ‘Well, we’ve tried to do something for these fellows. We’ve been kind of working on something. Haven’t got very far, but we’re trying.’ I don’t recall exactly, except that it was a combination of medical and spiritual.

“Then one day, to my great surprise, Dr. Bob told me about his own drinking problem,” Sister Ignatia said. “I could hardly believe it, as I had never seen Doctor under the influence. He told me about his contact with the Oxford Group and how, after attending meetings, he found himself with the Bible in one hand and a glass in the other. He related his providential meeting with Bill and gave me the résumé of all that had been accomplished between the years of 1935 and 1938.”

She remembered still more clearly the day when Dr. Bob came to St. Thomas after being told in no uncertain terms by another hospital “to seek refuge for his jittering patients elsewhere,” as Sister Ignatia put it. “I had never seen Doctor in a depressed mood before that memorable day. I thought he was ill, but I soon learned the cause of his discouragement.

“Dr. Bob explained his problem, but I was fearful to admit an alcoholic,” said Sister Ignatia. “Just a short time before, I had admitted an alcoholic on my own, put him on general medical services, and asked him to promise me that he wouldn’t make any noise or give any trouble. The next morn-

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