This month a close friend of mine will have been sober 10 years. (I’ve known him for about 12 years.)
I’d like to commemorate the occasion somehow. What do you think would be appropriate? A gift? (No jokes about fine wine or good scotch, please.) A letter? A donation to an organization that supports recovery in some way? Unfortunately I can’t spend time with my friend in person, as we’re 3000 miles apart.
Any advice or anecdotes welcome.
Thanks in advance,
E.
All I can suggest is to send a “congratulations” card. Ordinarily, I’d suggest that you take him to dinner, but that’s obviously not feasible given the distances involved.
Robin
Go to a local recovery store, by him a 10 year Sobriety Coin, drop it in an envelope and write a little note. That would be a great recognition gift!
I was just going to suggest a very nice 10 year chip. Gold (colored!) or enameled ones are very pretty.
Congrats to your “double-digit midget” friend, BTW- I will be “15” soon and it’s a miracle!
In case you’re not familiar with them, there are stores that sell stuff to support recovery. They are often combined with other spiritual-type stuff.
Worst-case scenario- call the AA central office nearest you, explain what you’re looking for and ask for a suggestion. AA doesn’t sell chips but we usually know who does! 
I really like the coin idea.
Another one is to make a monetary contribution in his name to a local (his local) recovery program and let him know what you’ve done in a congratulations card.
AA is pretty much the only game out there, and they pride themselves in being self-sufficient. They don’t take donations.
A hospital, on the other hand, might take a donation.
I’d say it calls for a keg party! 
That was in poor taste, I know. Sorry. I just had to.
My mum was “ten” last year. I got her a Serenity prayer pendant (and took her out for a meal, but obviously you can’t do that).
A chip would be good, or if you can get to a store that has 12-step goodies you might find something else. If you could, my first thought would be to go out for dinner or something but it sounds like that’s not possible. Drat.
Oh, and congratulations to your friend!
Thank you all for the suggestions. I like the idea of a sobriety coin/chip. If I can find a recovery store (I had no idea there was such a thing; if I can’t find one myself I’ll check with AA), I’ll go with that.
Well, I was going to suggest a night of boozing…
E.Thorp here is a 12 step shop in Seattle that has coins and recovery stuff. Enjoy.
Phlosphr, thanks for the tip! As it happens I’ll be in that neighborhood today, so I’ll check it out.
Would it be possible to call? A small gift is a good idea, but I know that if I were in that situation, someone calling me and telling me that they care about me and are proud of me would mean more.
I opened this thread because as soon as I read the title, I said to myself "Oh boy, how many posts before someone suggest alcohol?
Oh, yes, I am certainly planning to do this.
Well, it was the first thing I thought of. 
The OP states sobriety, not being teetotal, so alcohol should not be out of the question. Or does sobriety have a different meaning in America?
In this context “sobriety” is understood as teetotaling.
People who are not recovering alcoholics say “I’m sober” to mean “I’m not currently drunk.” On the other hand, a recovering alcoholic would say “I’m sober” to mean “I do not drink alcohol.” (That’s how my friend in recovery says it, anyway.)