Preparing

Yes, my Higher Power has a definite plan for me and it wasn't my time to go away on Friday. There is more preparing and learning to be done in the next five weeks. I believe there are no coincidences in life nor or there just random events. I believe everything happens for a reason and there is a Divine spirit involved in my life. This morning was a perfect example of things happening for a reason because one of my friends from the gym gave me some tremendous insight into what lies ahead for me when I am incarcerated.

I don't like to broadcast my particular situation to the general public so I try and maintain a low profile. This low profile is getting exceedingly more difficult as my story moves forward and the local newspaper carries my picture on the front page. Make no mistake this is not the type of 15 minutes of fame I was looking for but it is an unfortunate by-product of my situation. Because of this "notoriety" some people who did not know my situation have become keenly aware and it really has not been detrimental to me or my family.

This morning like I mentioned a friend saw the newspaper account from the Friday and approached me at the gym. He asked me why I didn't tell him what was going on. My response; I am not exactly proud of this situation and I don't know how to bring it up in a casual conversation; such as oh by the way I am out on bail for embezzling a great deal of money and will be sentenced to state prison next week, can I work in here!

After going through the initial conversation and explaining the entire situation this friend from the gym completely understood and also offered me some insight into my pending incarceration. As it turns out he was a correction officer in a minimum security prison for 14 years so he gave me some very good advice. He is also a bail bondsman (which I had known) and wanted to know why I didn't contact him for my bail. Unfortunately, last year I didn't know him very well so I relied on my attorney for the bail bondsman referral. Another twist is my friend has become friendly with my attorney in the past year and if this occurred since last year he would have been my bail bondsman and could have possibly saved me a great deal of money. Oh well; here is another example how timing has a great deal to do with life. In this instance my timing was off but that is neither here nor there.

As I was talking to my friend he introduced me to someone who just finished serving five years in state prison for embezzling. This person had a very interesting story and his dollar amount was 10 times more than mine so he was initially placed into a maximum security prison. I guess the more money you steal even though it was of a non-violent nature the system views that person as a threat and they get put in a high level security prison. He also told me the do's and don'ts of prison life and I welcomed his advice. This advice was coming from someone who had lived it for 5 years. It was a very good conversation and I learned a great deal. If I were sentenced on Friday I would not have had this opportunity so my Higher Power was once again looking out for me.

Late afternoon today was just like the last three months since we started the Monday Afternoon Gamblers Anonymous meeting and I happily attended. Attendance was off for some reason but it really doesn't matter. What matters is there was a meeting and as long as two people show up we can have a meeting and continue to work the Program. I have said this so many times and I will keep saying this; this Program has saved my life and I am forever grateful for the Program and the people inside those meetings.

We had a great meeting and as is always the case I walked away from the meeting feeling better than when I went in. I will miss these meetings but I know I have gained so much from this past year and this fantastic Program that no matter where I am I will have this knowledge for a lifetime. Hopefully, where I am going I will be able to start a GA meeting because this is the key to my success. Without GA there was chaos in my life and with GA there is serenity in my life. What a wonderful Program.