Dr. Robert Smith was an alcoholic. So was Bill Wilson, a stockbroker from New York. In May of 1935, Bill, who had been fighting to be sober for 5 months, traveled to Akron for a shareholder’s meeting. Things went bad at the shareholder’s meeting, and Bill was about to lose a bunch of money. He headed down to the bar at the hotel where he was staying, but at the last minute, he decided that he needed to find another alcoholic to talk to. He called around to people who he knew and eventually got introduced to Dr. Smith, a surgeon who will forever be lovingly referred to as “Dr. Bob”.
The two sat and talked, discussing their struggles with alcohol. It helped Bill and Dr. Bob saw that it was helping. Within a month of that fateful discussion, Dr. Bob stopped drinking. Bill started having meetings with other alcoholics in Brooklyn, and Dr. Bob brought struggling people into his home, just to talk and find common ground and common reasons to not drink, one person at a time.
Eventually, they formalized the organization and incorporated a series of 12 steps and 12 traditions to guide them to help others and to help others help others.
Dr. Bob’s home in Akron is a museum — a monument to these two flawed men that saw a chance to heal others as a path to healing themselves.
Those who made their way to Akron before the hint were:
- Martin de Bock
- Paul Voestermans
- Phil Ower
- Lighthouse
And after the hint:
- Gillian B
- Robin Giles
- hhgygy
- Garfield
Congratulations to the series winners Martin De Bock, Paul Voestermans and Phil Ower, all with perfect scores!
