Every AA meeting was the same. Chino would sit and listen to everyone"s stories, many worse than his, and he"d keep his mouth shut. But today was different. Today he would speak for the first time.
Everyone sitting at the two tables was staring at him, waiting to hear what he had to say.
Today, he was grinning. He held up his five-year coin, showing it off like a child who"d just won a prize at the arcade.
“My name is Chino, and I"m an alcoholic. Today is my five-year anniversary being sober.” Someone down the table, across from him, started clapping, which led, gradually, one additional clap after another, to everyone clapping.
“Happy birthday,” said Ted, an old real-estate agent who"d been his sponsor.
Chino beamed. “I haven"t felt like I"ve earned a lot of the things in my life, bu
