Ever meet someone in an AA meeting for the first time whom you can just tell is working a good Program? My guest on today’s show, Susan D., is that kind of person. When she first attended a Tuesday meeting that I’ve been going to for the past 15 years, she showed up early with the countenance and confidence of someone who has attended many meetings. She comfortably introduced herself and was soon chatting among our members who show up early for fellowship before the meeting. When the originally scheduled leader couldn’t make it, the chair asked Susan to lead the meeting. She instantly said “yes” and proceeded to lead a fine discussion, infusing her share with the experience of 19 years sober and plenty of references to the Big Book. In the following weeks and months, Susan became a regular attendee and participant at that meeting, readily accepting the service commitment of talking with newcomers and others looking for knowledgeable guidance in the Program.



Susan’s story will strike a familiar refrain for many baby boomers who became alcoholics and drug addicts. Dysfunctional home life with alcoholism rife through the family, Susan sought escape through alcohol and drugs, and a wild lifestyle common to the late 60’s and 70’s. Though a binge-drinker, her blackouts shielded her from cognitive awareness of the damage she was doing to her own life. Susan somehow managed to make it to AA in 1985, and even stayed sober for several years, but her unwillingness to embrace the Program had her skating around the periphery where she slipped time-and-again. By 2003, she’d finally hit the wall of hopeless abandon, with no spiritual armor to soften the impact. But it was the bottom that Susan had to hit in order to survive and later thrive.



As you follow Susan’s difficult journey from active alcoholic to recovered alcoholic, you’re bound to hear many similarities to your own story, as well as some differences along the way. But once you’ve heard her entire story, I think you’ll land solidly on similarities of gratitude and humility from which we can all thrive as sober alcoholics. So please enjoy the next hour of AA Recovery Interviews with my friend and AA sister, Susan D.



[This is an encore of Episode 68 originally released March 2022.]



If you’ve enjoyed my AA Recovery Interviews series, have a listen to “Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered From Alcoholism”. This is the word-for-word, cover-to-cover reading of the First Edition of the Big Book, published in 1939. It’s a comfortable, meaningful, and engaging way to listen to the Big Book anytime, anyplace. Have a free listen at Audible, Apple Books, or Amazon.



 I also invite you to check out my latest audio book, Lost Stories of the Big Book, 30 Original Stories Missing from the 3rd and 4th Editions of Alcoholics Anonymous. It’s an engaging audiobook I narrated to bring these stories to life for AA members who’ve never seen them. These timeless testimonials were originally cut to make room for newer stories in the 3rd and 4th Editions. But their vitally important messages of hope are as meaningful today as when they were first published. Many listeners will hear these stories for the first time.