This 154th interview in my podcast series features Helen M., from London, England. Helen tracks her nearly three years of sobriety as more than 1000 days in AA, experienced the one-day-at-at-time. Though she grew up in a home in which neither of her parents were alcoholic, Helen suffered mistreatment at the hands of her two sisters. To cope, she found the emotion-numbing relief that alcohol provided early in her childhood. With the die cast for an adolescence of drinking and other addictions, Helen drank herself into the throes of alcohol abuse by her early twenties. By then, the inevitable consequences of daily drinking took shape in the form of lost jobs, ruined relationships, and physical maladies that are all too common to the disease of alcoholism. Hitting bottoms along the way, Helen finally found the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous in 2018. But getting to AA was only half the battle as her desire to drink continued to take her down. In a moment of utter despair fraught with failure to grasp the Program, Helen’s path of salvation from drink was illuminated in September 2021. She was done drinking and proceeded to work the Program as suggested, even during the early days of Covid when she became meeting-maker on several Zoom AA meetings per day.

Helen’s passion and enthusiasm for AA recovery is infectious as she describes the gifts of the Program she has enjoyed. Working the Steps, studying the Big Book, having and being as sponsor, spiritual awareness, and frequent service work all bolsters Helen’s place in the Program. Her story bears witness to AA members in their early years of the power of the program and reminds those with many years or decades that the simple path of faith and action is still blessed beyond question by a Higher Power. So please enjoy the next hour or so of AA Recovery Interviews with my friend and AA sister, Helen M.

If you’ve enjoyed my AA Recovery Interviews series and my Big Book Podcast, have a listen to 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. Lost Stories of the Big Book is available on Audible, Amazon, and iTunes. It’s also available as a Kindle book and in Paperback from Amazon if you’d like to read along with the audio.

I also invite you to check out my latest audio book, “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, i-Tunes, or Amazon.