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support to help
out at the tables. The Beacon runs were wonderful over the Fall with Phil
and the current RatDog tour out here was so much fun! Thank you all. We
also had a fabulous Save Your Face Group Anniversary this year out on
Long Island, where our cofounder, Richard, shared his message of hope
and recovery. The support I have received personally over the WR list_serve
has been nothing short of mind blowing. I love you guys so so much. Big
Daddy Don will be heading up the table at this years’ Vibes and I
hope to meet more of you then. See ya at the shows!
Wharf
Rats are Awesome!!! I want to tell
you how much fun I had on the summer and fall tours. I’ve been blessed
to be able to help with this wonderful group. Traveled coast to coast
this year, saw so many great shows, and stayed frequently with local Wharf
Rats. Thank you everyone who opened their lives, and at times, their homes
to me (you know who you are). So many wonderful moments with rats I’ve
known for years and new friends just met.... Daniel is busy with a new
store he is running and unable to go to as many shows as before. He happily
sends me out with pseudo husbands or girlfriends to go to many more shows
(he and Martin conspired to keep me out on the East Coast for extras shows-how
crazy is that?). We have had so much help from many new and old table
workers. Thank you, one and all. Many folks who are not able to take on
the responsibility of working the table a whole show have supported us
with hugs, smiles, running meetings, or giving us a bathroom or dance
break... it is all appreciated so much. Got to travel a bit with Big Daddy
Don, what a wonderful time... Rumor has it he will be back this summer
- hope so - he is great fun to party with clean and sober. So remember
to hold on for that next miracle, you can never tell. Have as much clean
fun as possible. As Martin says..."he who has the most fun wins!" Wharf Rat Baby When they talked about "a life second to none" I couldn’t have imagined what it meant. Honestly, when I first got clean & sober all I hoped for was not hating waking up each morning and when I found the Wharf Rats all I hoped for was a cool place to dance at shows. But I found wonderful fellowship, touring buddies & service. When I worked the ‘96 summer Further Tour I met amazing folks, had a wonderful adventure & heard grate music. I was ecstatic - this was truly a life ‘second to none’. What I hadn’t realized is that I had also met my future husband. Robert & I didn’t see one another for at least a year until I ran into him at the Phellowship table at a Phish show. We connected again at the Gathering of the Vibes & it was there that we both fell head over heels. De-spite the long distance romance, we couldn’t fight the chemistry. We were married this past sum-mer & are expecting our Wharf Rat Baby in time for this summer’s festivals. Again, I truly couldn’t have even imagined it. And I wouldn’t trade it for the world. See you at the table. Carol |
Fellow
Rats!
Just a quick
note to express my gratitude to you guys for saving my fucking life
about 6 years ago. Yep that’s right!!! Fresh out of rehab, told
to stay away from "people, places, & things", and when
I went to furthur 96 (well hell, I had to go), I was pretty tweaked
out. Then,..there you were! Crazy, laughing, all glittery, and high
as hell without using or abusing...Talk about wanting what you had!!
In-stantly I began the "Long Strange Trip, Part II" Today
You are my "people", anywhere there’s the Rats and a
show is "my place", and for quite some time now, being an
active member of the Rats is my "thing". And do you know what?...In
all my years of "experimenting" with drugs, there is nothing,
absolutely nothing out there that made me feel the way I do today! Thank
you All, from the bottom of my weird and crazy heart......Lots of Love
& Hugs, Robert Warwick, Rhode Island The
Next Right Thing None of us are
failures. What we are is human. Frail emotional reactive and a whole
bunch of other stuff. I lost four friends to this disease this year
already and it’s only march! But know what? I didn’t drink
over it. I cried about talked about it went to some funerals and went
to meetings and talked about it some more, but people I DID NOT DRINK
OR DRUG BEHIND IT! THAT’S WHAT MAKES US WINNERS AND NOT LOSERS
(you listenin to this Dana?) We get up every day and do the next right
thing, hit a meeting or so and go to bed clean and sober. What the next
person does whether we sponsor them or not is something we have NO control
over. Me? I pray for the still sick and suffering among us and hope
they find recovery someday. Anyways, I thought I’d share that.
Have a good week Family DEADNURSE Eternally Grateful I love the Wharf Rats, the Grateful Dead and the clean & sober music scene! My name is Murph and have had the privilege and the pleasure of at least 75 shows since 1994 without drugs or alcohol, and for that I am Grateful! My first Dead show was @ Harpur college in Binghamton, NY at the ripe old age of 13.....my last show with Jerry (rest, our friend)! was at Giants Stadium in ’95. I first learned of the Wharfrat community from an AA speaker while I was in a treatment center in ’93 and it was an awakening of sorts. I truly believed Lincoln (who has been a great friend ever since) when he told me that I could still be a part of the scene without being a part of it...I think you all know what I mean! Over the last 2 years, I have been able to be a little piece of the Wharfrats, through all the souls I have met on-line, the ones I have had the pleasure of face to face contact and to all the Spirits I have met at the tables! Last summer I went to a Trey show at Jones Beach and got to see the light come on in a couple of newcomers eyes when I sprung a meeting on them at set-break..(thanks to Dana for being there.....glowing, shining, smiling and showing them that it does work!) I go to meet Bobby and his band @ Montage Mt, Pa, to hang back-stage at the party....funny thing...I didn’t see any-body drinking or smoking or snorting or.....I got to meet Wharfdaddy Don @ Lehigh U. at Phil & Friends...what a Spirit Don is.....I had the privilege of doing a table at an upstate NY casino, no less, for a Ratdog show and sit in on the table 4 days later in Scranton.....and the Spring and
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Summer shows are on the way! I didn’t mean for this to be about me, for it is not! It is about us...."a group of concert goers who have chosen to live drug and alcohol free......providing support, information, and some traction in an otherwise slip-pery environment".......the rewards are awesome, the love is abundant and the music is phenomenal! Tomorrow morning I will see my 4th child born....tomorrow afternoon I will share my experience, strength and hope @ the rehab that introduced me to the Wharfrat way of life......and for that I am eternally Grateful!.......with love, peace and prayers, Murph And then one show.... We had about 15 people at the set break meeting. The evening was particularly gratifying to me when a friend who uses and has never shown an interest in stopping came straight to the table when he came in, gave me a big hug, told me has 13 weeks and that he’s looking to make a big change in the way he’s been living his life. Just to hear him talk about examining his life in that light made my evening. He looked like he was gonna cry when he said he was really glad we were here. He was kind of watch-ing the set break meeting from just outside the circle, and I think he’s still trying to figure out what he’s gonna do, but for me just to see him showing this interest was good. We agreed to talk this week. from WR List_serv Love and Service in the New Year Well the joint was jumping....oh boy, really excited..getting here at the Kaiser a little later than I’d like ...the place is already packed! But hey, still have to stop in at the table. Looking for Shirley, anyone seen Shirley? Lots of old rats, new rats, west coast rats, east coast rats, rats from every-where hanging at the Wharf Rat table. Good to seeya Patrick. Hugs to Suki and Robert G. Oh, there’s Martin with tons of glitter. Warren nice face paint. Hey, if ya see Shirley tell her I have my dancing shoes on. I hang a bit at the back when the meeting is happening but I’m getting restless. I need to get into the crowd , up near the stage, needing the music. Wow, what a first set of Phil! Found a nice spot in the crowd. Seeing lots of old bay area friends. The presence of Jerry in this old venue is really strong tonight. Rumors of a Billy sighting. Mickey’s here?? No way! Really?? We’re waiting patiently for midnight. The crowd is get-ting a little thicker as they make room for the float to come through. It’s great to be at the Kaiser and being aware and awake after four nights of shows and little sleep. Here comes the float. Wow, three wizards. Cool. Hey wait a minute, one of them looks like Billy, it is , it is....wow......Not Fade Away! What a moment to remember. We’re all dancing. It’s just past midnight. The young man who I was talking to earlier lights up a cigarette. Oh no, I can’t stand any smoke next to me right now. "Hey, brother, I thought you were going to quit at midnight?", I tease. He gets the hint and puts it out. "Yes, I was gonna quit", he replies, "but I quit doing drugs and alcohol a few months ago and last night I got high so I need to take care of that first". "Oh really, ya been going to meetings?" I ask. "A couple" he re-plies. "Well I’ve got 21 years clean and sober" I remark. A big smile breaks out on his face. "Wow!". "Yep, and see the guy behind you," I comment, pointing to my friend Jack, a fellow rat and veteran deadhead, "He’s got 19 years clean and sober". Another smile from this guy. I point out Robert from Sacramento and another sober friend who is next to him. "They’re sober too". The young man is amazed to know there are so many of us enjoying the music, clean and sober. I move up to the front in the Bobby zone for Sugar Mag. When I return, Jack and I have a mini - meeting with our new friend, Tim from Ohio. We have a chance to share our experience, our strength, and a bit of hope with this newbie. We tell him about doingshows sober. Later I think about how my higher power always gives me what I need. What a way to ring in the New Year! Dancing and getting to be of service, all at the same time. And Tim, if you’re out there, look for the yellow balloons. Love and music, Lynn L., Laguna Beach, CA |