Grapevine Online Exclusive

Trip to Tehachapi

A man remembers what it used to be like at the holidays

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of joining the small fellowship in Tehachapi, Calif., located midway between Wrightwood and Bakersfield, en route to pick up my brother in-law. I had never been to this meeting, but was welcomed as if they'd known me all their lives. I shared about the first 10 years of my 25-year marriage. Every Christmas we'd travel six hours north to Mariposa to celebrate. While there in 1987, 30 minutes before getting married, me and my best man shared a long draw from a bottle of sour mash whiskey, left over from the bachelor party the night before.

We were birds... Login to read more
Not a subscriber? Click here to subscribe.

Related Items:

Holiday Party
Running into a member of the Fellowship helped him through it

Keeping the Door Open
An AA makes sure the meeting space is open on Christmas

Christmas Past, Christmas Present
An AA who relapsed compares that year's holiday with this one

Red Sugar Cubes
She found the spirit of the holidays outside a cocktail