After a long period of sobriety, Marcia let up on her Program and plunged into a 7-year relapse. Seduced by the disease, she was convinced she could drink normally. That illusion took her to the depths of despair from which few survive. That she barely made it back to AA and sobriety is nothing short of a miracle.

Marcia G. first got sober in 1990. But 8 years into that sobriety, her interest and involvement in AA started to wane. She went to fewer and fewer meetings, becoming increasingly convinced that her real problem was with drugs, not alcohol. By the time she slipped after 12 years, and during the early years of that relapse, her experimentation with social drinking seemed to be working. She believed herself no longer an alcoholic. Seduced by alcohol, her misguided belief soon deteriorated as she began a tragic downward slide back into the bottle. With a child and husband, and previous experience with AA, she had lots of reasons to get sober again. But it took a 7 year beating by the disease before she barely made it back to AA. Thoroughly devastated, she got a sponsor and started to work the Program in earnest. As the years multiplied, Marcia stayed in the middle of the Program, going to lots of meetings, continuing service work, and sponsoring many women from a treatment hospital she herself had attended.  Today, Marcia is once again sober 12 years, but this period of sobriety is infused into every facet of her life.

Marcia’s story of long-term sobriety, interrupted by a lengthy slip, should be particularly instructive to anyone who’s ever inhabited the outer regions of the Program where alcohol’s seduction seems the greatest. That Marcia made it back to even tell the story is a worthy demonstration of a power greater than herself. That she has anchored her sobriety to such a strong AA Program, by continuously doing the work, is fine encouragement to anyone struggling to get to the center. This is the 32nd interview in the AA Recovery Interviews podcast. Take a deep breath…exhale, and enjoy the next 60 minutes listening to my friend and AA sister, Marcia G.

Visit the AA Recovery Interviews website for more information and to contact me, Howard L.

Check out Howard’s Big Book Podcast, the complete unabridged audio version of the First and Second Editions of Alcoholics Anonymous. The Big Book Podcast is an engaging cover-to-cover, word-for-word reading of all 11 chapters and Personal Stories, many of which were left out of the Third and Fourth Editions. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Or listen on https://bigbookpodcast.com

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[Disclaimer: In strict adherence to A.A.’s traditions, my anonymous guests and I speak for ourselves only, not for Alcoholics Anonymous at large. We share only our personal experiences with A.A. recovery. We acknowledge that AA’s sole concern is the recovery and continued sobriety of those alcoholics who turn to the Fellowship for help. As members of AA, our primary purpose is to stay sober and to help other alcoholics achieve sobriety. – Howard L.]