For all of you out there that don't know, AA had its beginnings in little old Akron, OH. Two men and their wives dedicated their lives to this simple program that has left a legacy of healing and continues to help people with their addictions every day. Every year, around this time, thousands of people (approx. 10,000 this year) trek to Akron to pay tribute to the people who started this program that has improved if not saved their lives.
It is a tradition for my mom and I to go to the tribute for the founders at the cemetery at which they are buried. The event begins outside of McDonalds on Market St. A procession of hundreds of motorcycles barrel down the street and towards the cemetery. The people on the motorcycles are all unique, people of different racial backgrounds, from different countries, differing in almost every way that you can think of, but they are all united under AA and have somehow been influenced or changed by this program. Their faces are happy and excited, enthralled and thankful. They have been to the bottom, so they know how good it feels to be on top. They rev their engines all the way to the cemetery where tribute is payed to the individuals who started this program which has saved so many peoples lives and well-being.
As an onlooker-someone who has been affected by alcoholism but not felt the grip of alcohol- I feel an overwhelming power by this group of people, this elite club. Seeing the sea of faces, everyone so different but coming together (to my little city) for one purpose. This is their Mecca.
I love this weekend every year. I love that I live in this very special town. I love that all these people love my town too.
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