Bill Brown — Staunch Supporter of ALL KINDS of RECOVERY

Nurturing my professional development, while respecting my lack of much professional income, this newspaper and it’s generous publishers gave me the opportunity to get exposure, offer professional tips, and serve the recovery community by writing monthly articles that would appear with my photo. I felt like such a grown-up!

When they started the Art of Recovery Expo, mine was not the sort of business that was sophisticated enough to “table” at an event, but the Browns encouraged us to join in the fun anyhow. My husband & I ordered prom decorations for our booth and children’s plastic birthday party favors to give away and we had a blast! Those early expos were like a 12-Step Meeting, a Circus, a Family Reunion, a Probation Office, an Art Studio, Trick-or-Treat, a Convention, a Playground, and a Music Festival, all rolled into one.

The year we did a Mardi Gras theme, we shouted, “Show us Your Chips!” and the bigger the number on your chip, the bigger beads you got. Needless to say, Bill Brown walked away with the largest, longest, finest strand of metallic pearls we had on hand.

My husband and I participated in every Art of Recovery Expo together until I got hit by a car while driving my motorcycle. That year, Jon participated alone, taking large photo boards that were signed for me by expo attendees, wishing me a speedy recovery. The following year, I set up and worked our booth alone while Jon was in Minnesota for his mother’s final months. Later that year, Bill & Barbara attended the recovery party I had begun planning for myself 18 months prior when I was in the ICU, fighting for my life, and I needed something on which to focus. They supported my accident recovery, our grief process, and our ongoing abstinence from a handful of addictive substances / processes.

When Bill passed away, we adopted the 90-in-90 idea and sent Barbara 90 postal messages in 90 days, knowing that Bill would want for her to recover and continue her life, her sobriety, and the paper. And, here we are now, a 35-year anniversary for this publication that has, no doubt, accompanied many through dark hours and helped usher thousands to their next sunny day.

Congratulations Together AZ Newspaper and Kudos to Barbara Brown, Publisher, and all those who have contributed over these past three and a half decades!!!