About Brain Damaged

How the Brain Damaged meeting came to be.

Disturbing the comfortable, comforting the disturbed.

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About Us

 

  Who Are These Guys?

  My first meeting at Brain Damaged was an accident- back when I believed in
  accidents. It was early in my sobriety and I had a roommate Matt who had a few
  more 24 hours than I did. He had met up with a group of guys who he thought
  were “hanging out” at a cigar lounge in Villa Park. Matt struck up a conversation
  with one of them and found that they shared a common disease and that this
  fellow’s home group was in Elmhurst- a group called Brain Damaged. Since I had
  a car and was willing- we headed out to the Yorkfield Presbyterian Church the next
  Friday night.

  What I found there was quite different from previous meetings I’d been to. First
  of all- everyone seemed to know each other- but they were quick to introduce
  themselves. Each one of them at some point in the introduction said a similar thing-
  “This will be an unusual meeting- keep coming back”. Puzzled, I went downstairs.
  The meeting started normally enough- introduction of the chair, preamble, How It
  Works, a reading from the 24 hour book. However- the next agenda item was new
  to me. The chair announced “Does anyone have any jokes?” Jokes? As a formal
  part of an AA meeting? This is different- and then came the jokes! I can honestly
  say that when the chair asked “Is there anything bothering anyone’s sobriety
  tonite?” I almost responded- “The jokes!”

  As the meeting progressed I noticed a few other unusual twists. Crosstalk was
  not only allowed, it was expected! Many members seemed to have a nickname-
  some not fit for repeating outside the room. Another thing that struck me was the
  diversity in the room. The person with the most sobriety that night was Jimmy K-
  more than 50 years! There were quite a few men with in excess of 20 years, but
  quite a few others with less than a year. Looking for a group with a plethora of life
  experiences? Doctors, lawyers, bakers, bankers, truck drivers, used car salesmen,
  and, I was later to find out- some homeless as well. It turns out there was even an
  Indian chief. Each had their own unique way of flavoring the ongoing comments-
  some comical, some profane, all of them insightful. Needless to say- I was hooked
  from my first meeting and have made this my home group.

  There is a deep sense of tradition in the group- tracing their history back to some
  of the first AA groups in DuPage County. Their heritage starts with the Whetley
  group, founded by John W. in Villa Park. There were four chronic relapsers in that
  group who, along with Bill B. split off to start the Slippers group. From 5 men
  meeting in Bill B.’s basement, the group eventually grew so large that they needed
  to search for a larger meeting space and thus Excuse Makers was born. The story
  goes that Bill B. had trouble remembering people’s names as the group got larger
  and thus the nickname tradition began. The Judge, the Doctor, Gown Clown,
  Windows, Harry the Heat, Cash Flow, the Baron were all members of that group.
  Eventually Excuse Makers split and gave rise to Resentmentville. The traditions
  of these groups were similar- all were quite service oriented and commonly took
  newcomers on 12 step calls. The idea was that both the potential recruit and the
  new guy would each benefit from the interaction of 12 stepping. There was another
  fundamental principle common to these groups that still persists today. Splits
  were seen as good for the program as they allowed for the formation of lifelong
  fellowships in a smaller protected environment. Two other important guiding
  principles also remain from these early groups. The first is “Do what you are told”
  and the second, “Shut up, smile and step back”.

  Resentmentville eventually spawned two other groups- Quarry Rats and Brain
  Damaged. All three are healthy and still growing to this day. As for Brain Damaged-
  I wouldn’t want anyone to think that it is merely a meeting of old drunks swapping
  drunkalogues and early AA memories. While I’ve never laughed harder than at a
  Brain Damaged meeting (the story of how Shark Bait got his nickname comes to
  mind) I have also witnessed how quickly these men become deadly serious when
  talking about recovery and the program. They recognize our common illness as
  being incurable, fatal and progressive and respond accordingly. The amount of
  service work being done through this fellowship is a great example. They reach
  out to many groups- the Hines VA meeting, the sponsorship of new “recruits” from
  various halfway houses and the winter Fatima Retreat serve as incredible service
  opportunities. Last year’s Fatima Retreat brought together nearly 100 men from 7
  states for three days of fellowship. Many of our members support
  a new tradition of taking their fifth step there.

  The warning that I received at my first meeting holds true- it is an unusual
  meeting and has played a major role in my sobriety and that of the men who
  “keep coming back”. If you want what we have- Brain Damaged is a group who
  exemplifies the fact that we AA’s are wired differently. Oh- by the way- the meeting
  doesn’t actually start until ~8:05 pm on Fridays and the format still includes a
  couple of jokes. Yours in service - Dan P.
    

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