July 7, 2022
Dear Hossein,
The photos you sent of the design of the university building are breathtaking. I cannot imagine a more perfect design. It reminding me of a mythical phoenix rising from the earth. I look forward to your sharing photos as the construction progress continues. I will work with Ehsan to make sure that I can view all photos and videos you share with me on Whatsapp.
I am also delighted to hear that the Traveler Cup event went so well and received such positive press coverage. Such events convey in a way that words cannot that permanent recovery from addiction is possible and that recovery is far more than the removal of drugs from an otherwise unchanged life. It is also a way of conveying that people who have been a drain on the community and become strong citizens and assets to the life of the community.
I had a delightful birthday celebration with family here in Florida and my daughter and her husband arrive on Saturday for a week’s visit. Her cancer treatment is nearly complete and she continues to do very well. She and her husband are currently preparing for their teaching duties at their respective universities this Fall. All of Alisha’s tests show her cancer free and she has regained her energy back following her recovery from surgery and chemotherapy. She has only two immunotherapy treatments left and then she will just have periodic checkups to assure the cancer remains in remission.
Through the middle years of my life, my research and teaching activities involved a great deal of travel. Since I have ceased such travel. I am enjoying this time of life that I can spend with my wife and family. I particularly appreciate the quiet time I now have to read and reflect. When I was at university more than half a century ago, knowledge was trapped within the libraries. Today, it is so accessible and in so many formats that I am excited like a small child in a candy story. I cannot imagine what it would be like to grow up and to have a career in which information was so accessible. The good news is that the work of Congress 60 is now accessible to people around the world through the information we are sharing. The books and papers you are preparing that would have once been trapped in libraries are now freely traveling around the world. What a miracle that is!
The work of correcting errors in the transfer of my website is nearly complete. I will soon be free to contemplate what future writing I want to pursue. With advancing age and some deterioration in mental abilities, I will be quite selective in what I choose to do and hope to spend a portion of my time mentoring graduate students who are interested in recovery research as well as working to offer what guidance I can to grassroots recovery community organizations here in the U.S. There is now growing interest in developing new recovery-focused programs—recovery residences, recovery support programs for university students, workplace recovery programs, recovery cafes, recovery support groups within the churches, recovery cafes, recovery service centers, sports and adventure programs for people in recovery, and recovery-themed arts, theatre, and music projects. I would like to think some of this growing interest has been inspired by the information we have disseminated about related activities within Congress 60. Each morning I receive emails from people inquiring how such programs can be started. It is quite exciting to see all these efforts by people in recovery hoping to be of service to others seeking recovery. It affirms that recovery can be socially contagious as you have so aptly demonstrated within Congress 60.
It is quite hot and humid this time of year in Florida and we are setting heat records with many parts of the country experiencing droughts. Rita and I have ceased our daily walks excep in early mornings or in the evenings due to the heat. Most of the people who only love here in the winters have traveled back north so this is a much quitter and less busy time of year here in Florida. In spite of the heat, Rita and I continue to like living here even during the summer season, although we do get a bit nervous during the height of hurricane season from July through September. How is this year’s summer in Tehran?
Please extend my warmest regards to your family and to all members of Congress 60.
Friends and Brothers Forever,
Bill