Back in 1991, my late husband Bill was two years sober and beginning his life over at the age of 47 — after years and years of living the high life in New York and Washington, DC. He was making loads of money and spending it just as fast. He was a country club guy, married with a young son and drinking to destruction. The story goes, in 1989 while thinking he might spend the rest of his years institutionalized, he found sobriety by the grace of God. He was given a chance to come out to Arizona to live at a halfway house (Progress Valley) and start over. He had a plane ticket, $200, and two suitcases. His wife at the time, filed for divorce, took whatever money she could find, their son, and fled to Florida.

Bill told me so many times how grateful he was to be given the chance to begin again. With hard work, and complete dedication to his sobriety he realized that people like him needed resources and a message of hope to stay on the path of recovery. That is why the newspaper Recovery Together was created. Here I am today, carrying on the legacy he began thirty years ago, and I’m honored and proud to do so.
Together AZ continues to print even while many publications are digital. Personally, I still like to turn pages and hold in my hands what I’m reading. Maybe it’s old school. I still read magazines and books with covers and paper pages in between—I don’t believe that print is completely dead.

If you are holding edition now, I really want to thank you. It has been a bit of a struggle to keep this going but somehow it works out every month. Together AZ will never be the New York Times; our goal is to continue to inspire you on the road to recovery.
Find us online each month at togetheraz.com and for professionals, if you would like copies for your offices please let me know.
And lest I forget, a huge part of keeping us going are our dedicated advertisers and supportive friends, all of the wonderful contributors who share their wisdom and hope with you each month!

I hope you are smiling, Bill.