Sober 13 years since 10/17/1986, this was the first time she spoke at a large conference.
She was born in Minnesota, raised in Washington state, transplanted to Southern California and currently resides in Nebraska where they have very strong AA.
A periodic drunk, she started both drinking and driving at age 16. Her junior and senior year got lost in the fog as the class drunk.
At 17 she married a Navy man for 3 years in a violent relationship. They had a daughter. She left him and moved to Georgia but was court ordered back to Washington state. She and her daughter lived in her car on Boones Farm wine and Campbell's Soup for her daughter.
She married another drunk, moved to California, got pregnant again and stayed home to drink. She attempted suicide twice in 5 years and the kids began to act out.
When her kids were 17 and 13, they were all living with the elephant in the living room. She took her daughter to a youth lock down ward and the secrets began to come out with everyone pointing fingers at each other.
Her husband confessed to an affair, the pain got intense and she had her last drunk because she could not drink the pain away.
In sobriety she divorced, became an ordained minister and spends time taking meetings to the jails.
Her last year before this talk has been the hardest in her sobriety.
(52 min) (12 MB) (id#1108)