Imagine trying to get sober in a country without AA meetings or the Big Book. That's what faced Ksenija when she got sober in 1992. That, plus Croatia's viscious War of Independence.

Though she had grown up in a Soviet country that paid little heed to the disease of alcoholism, the rest of Kesenija’s back-story is similar to those told by AA members around the world. She was raised in a culture in which alcohol is part of the social fabric and started drinking her middle teens. Finding enjoyment in the bottle and the behavior that resulted from it, Kesenija lived through her share of abusive relationships, tough marriages, single mothering, and divorce, many of the same things encountered by other AA women I’ve interviewed. Like other ambitious and functional alcoholics, Kesenija still managed to carve out a successful career as a singer and actress in her native Croatia, the U.S., and other countries. Unfortunately, the disease of alcoholism inevitably interceded, prevailed, and destroyed it all. Barely surviving her bottom, Kesenija was providentially led into the AA Program and reliable sobriety. That was 30 years and many achievements ago.

But it was her unique abilities associated with service work that really put a shine on Kesenija’s Program. She actively lobbied for and later volunteered to translate the Big Book and the 12 and 12 into the Croatian language. Such tools were simply not available to the fledgling groups in Croatia, especially before the fall of the Soviet Union. The books completed, and her career restored, Kesenija made it her service mission to travel her country, helping establish and support new and existing AA groups. To say that her service work has kept her sober, humble, and grateful would be an understatement. There are many Croatians who’ve been guided to sobriety by her efforts.

You’re going to enjoy my interview with Keseija. I do beg you to forgive the glitchy audio that Zoom’s connection to Croatia provided that day. But it’s still the content that counts and hers counts a lot. So please welcome to AA Recovery Interviews my friend and AA sister, Kesenija P.