A good-ole country boy, John lives about 20 minutes outside Athens, GA where The University of Georgia is located.
He was born in an alcoholic home. His father's drinking landed him in the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary. He left them when John was about three. They moved in with his grandparents. His mother married a heavy drinker - a master sergeant.
The death of John's grandfather turned John rebellious and against a God he had almost embraced.
In the 60's, he ran away from home and went around the country. Once he got kicked out of a commune for eating meat.
Back in Atlanta he got strung out on heroin and drink. Out of prison, his father talked him into going to the state mental hospital in Milledgeville, GA. Quitting cold turkey there cured him of his drug habit but he did drink everyday but not for very long. He was drinking to live and living to drink.
He bought a rifle but could not figure out how to use it to kill himself.
His father found AA during his second trip to prison.
When John first came into AA he was 27 years old. There were not many young people in the Program. He was a good talker but didn't do anything.
"I actually felt like I did before I came to Alcoholics Anonymous. I was suicidal, I wanted to die and yet I wasn't drinking."
He announced at a meeting he was ready to resign from AA. They laughed but an old-timer stopped him going out the door and said,
"Looks like you are ready to take certain steps."
He spends nearly half the talk sharing about his journey in recovery.
(59 min) (20.5 MB) (id#1640)
