I met Dennis in a chatroom. A GA member had started this chatroom up for compulsive gamblers looking for help in between local face to face meetings. It was great chatting with other compulsive gamblers,using any means we had to recover,then getting to meet these people and putting a face with their names.

After chatting with Dennis here on the web for a while,we finally got to meet in Pittsburgh back in May 2001. Dennis had already had 2 yrs in recovery by this time. This was his first National Conference. He was so thrilled to be there.

Dennis was a living example of recovery in the biggest way. He was committed to his recovery and to his job as Trustee for Area 6C.

I sat next to him at several Trustee meetings when we both were trustees. He was always very helpful, keeping me updated on what happened while I was away from the table.

I know I will miss seeing his big smile at all the conferences from now on, but also know he is in a better place where he is not hurting anymore.

With Love and Peace in Recovery,
I Love you Dennis

One night in March of 1999, during one of those informal chats, a guy named Dennis wandered in, and just kind of watched what was going on. He may have shared some, I don't recall. A 'still, small voice' prompted me to instant message him, and ask what city he was in/near. This was not my usual practice. He wrote back that he was in Charlotte, NC, which is my home group area! So I told him me too, and sent meeting information, and encouraged him to come check it out. He made his first meeting soon thereafter, and never looked back. We told him all the usual things. Go to a lot of meetings, use the phone list, get involved, etc. He went to ALL the meetings; used, and soon took over UPDATING the phone list; led meetings, when he was eligible; gave people rides to meetings; got and used a sponsor; held servant positions locally, and soon got involved in intergroup, served as Trustee. Basically, he was one of those guys that took those suggestions seriously, and became totally committed to GA. I had the privilege of showing him around his first national conference when we served together on the BOT. He attended all Trustee meetings since, except the last couple, when he was fighting cancer and could not, although he really wanted to.

Dennis will be greatly missed in GA locally and nationally. Through his aggressive involvement in his own recovery, he demonstrated to us all just how the promises of GA can and will be achieved. He sponsored many, took countless hotline calls, effectively reaching out to hurting people using any means necessary. Even during his battle with cancer, he embodied the character strengths we all strive for. Humility, honesty, cheerfulness, courage, loyalty, persistence, leadership and many more.

He attended meetings until he could no longer walk. Never complaining about his physical decline, his last meeting was just a couple weeks before he ran into the waiting arms of his Higher Power, whom he chose to call Jesus Christ, to receive the ultimate healing. I'm grateful that I was in a place spiritually, that night in 1999 to hear and obey that 'still, small voice'. My reward has been to gain a great friend in Dennis, many others who he helped get to their first meeting, and to witness what may turn out to be the best example of recovery I will see. I was deeply honored and moved when Myra, his devoted and loving wife til the end, asked me to be a pall bearer at the celebration of his well lived life. Their example of love and faith will live on forever.