Sober 5 years since 2/27/2012, Candace's story is a great addition to AA's oral history.
Born in Florida, raised by a poor, single mother who moved often, Candace acquired a step-father when she was 4 and a baby sister when she was six.
Her parents left her alone, at daycare, other family members but mostly her grandmother while they pursued their party lifestyle.
When Candace was with her mom, discipline was strict even though her mother drank heavily. When Candace was with her grandmother, life was easier and more reliable.
There was only a handful of drinking episodes in high school until age 18. She met her husband there and they were pregnant by the time she was 19.
They began to raise a family of three children and drank only on rare occasions. She enjoyed raising her children. They began to move up in the world.
Things changed in her 30's when they moved into a high income country club neighborhood. The ladies there drank often at the many social events. Candace's childhood feelings of less-than returned. She began to drink for the effect.
The power it had over her and the steps and expense she went to to quit are astonishing and at times humorous. For her to quit was a real pain in the tush (you have to hear that part).
Though many professionals tried to help her quit, it was what her son and husband witnessed during a rare blackout that final had her on her back on her bed asking God for help.
She came into AA the next day and heard a speaker tell of accidentally killing a co-worker while drinking, yet she could see he had forgiven himself. If he could, maybe she could to.
She became willing to go to any lengths for over a year. Then they moved to Acworth and she slacked off, did not drink, but got dangerously close until a member's call turned her around and hooked her up with some very passionate AA's in her community.
She shared the following poem that she says found her in this form:
