A conversation we’re grateful to have, and a friend we can still listen to again.

A note from Julie L

This podcast shows the friendship that you gain in recovery.

Al passed away this week. Al got sick and moved to assisted living over a year ago. I was grateful that he was going to have the care he needed.

I told Peter that we had to do a podcast with Al and Larry. They had been friends for over 43 years. Larry did not even know what a podcast was, and he handled it so smoothly.

I am grateful that we will always have this podcast. I am sad that we no longer have Al.

I am extremely grateful to Peter for putting this all together so quickly so we could honor him this week. Thank you, Larry, for doing the podcast with Al.

I am so thankful for the program of Alcoholics Anonymous for giving me the greatest foundation, family, and friendship that anyone could ever ask for.

Al doesn’t start his AA story quite where you’d expect. First, there’s a limerick. Then he takes us back to a cab ride, a first meeting, and the person who gave him a ride home and a ride to the meeting the next day.

"Life's too important to be too serious."

— Al Hazeltine

There’s an old friend who kept turning up at the bar with the same question, and a promise Al made to take somebody else to AA. We’ll let Al tell that part.

Larry W., Al’s dear friend, has plenty to tell us, too. Listen for the parking meter in Honolulu, the road trip to Alaska, and what drew him to the rooms in the first place.

"I wanted to live the laughter I heard at the first meeting."

— Larry W.
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Together, they had more than ninety years of sobriety when we recorded this conversation for Episode 52. You can hear the friendship in the teasing, but also in Al’s story about needing somebody who would listen without judgment.

Al also talks about Dale, a sponsor he had lost:

"You don't forget them when they die. I'm not done talking to him."

— Al Hazeltine
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RRP 139 — Remembering Al Hazeltine / Let’s Spend Some Time with Al and Larry

We’re so grateful we recorded this conversation. We miss Al, and we’re glad we can share this time with him and Larry again.

#RealRecoveryPodcast, #RememberingAlHazeltine, #Recovery, #Sobriety, #FriendshipInRecovery, @realrecoverypodcast