Today’s podcast is my interview is with Ron B., a man whom I’d just met at a Friends of Bill W. meeting on an enormous cruise ship earlier this year. As we had both attended floating AA meetings before, neither of us was surprised when the two of us were the only attendees. After talking for a while, I asked Ron if he’d like to share his story of 43 years of sobriety. Seeing it as an opportunity to help others, he immediately said “yes”. So, as the ship made its way from its home port in Galveston Texas to the western Caribbean, Ron shared his captivating story of long-term sobriety. We talked about Ron's childhood and adolescence. It was a mostly normal family in which there was no excessive alcohol use nor verbal or physical abuse. But even as innocuous social use of alcohol portended little fear of becoming an alcoholic, Ron’s behavior around booze morphed into full-blown alcoholism by his early thirties. As Ron contended with horrendous physical, mental, and emotional anguish, he was also neck-deep in the diseases’ ruinous effects on his family and job. His only two options were to stop drinking or go onto the bitter end. His last gasp for help resulted in a 30-day inpatient rehab, followed by immediate involvement in Alcoholics Anonymous. He stuck around to do the arduous work of building a better life without drinking, staying ever-vigilant of the hideous lures the disease can dangle in the faces of the uncommitted, prideful, uninitiated, or skeptical. In the process, Ron has put together 43 years of contented sobriety. I feel that you will identify with the valuable mixture of similarities and differences present in Ron’s story. So please sit back and enjoy this episode of AA Recovery Interviews with one of my newest ‘Friends of Bill W, fresh off the ship and here for you: Ron B. If you’ve enjoyed my AA Recovery Interviews series, have a listen to “Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered From Alcoholism”. This is the word-for-word, cover-to-cover reading of the First Edition of the Big Book, published in 1939. It’s a comfortable, meaningful, and engaging way to listen to the Big Book anytime, anyplace. Have a free listen at Audible, Apple Books, or Amazon. I also invite you to check out my latest audio book, Lost Stories of the Big Book, 30 Original Stories Missing from the 3rd and 4th Editions of Alcoholics Anonymous. It’s an engaging audiobook I narrated to bring these stories to life for AA members who’ve never seen them. These timeless testimonials were originally cut to make room for newer stories in the 3rd and 4th Editions. But their vitally important messages of hope are as meaningful today as when they were first published. Many listeners will hear these stories for the first time. Lost Stories of the Big Book is available on Audible, Amazon, and Apple Books. It’s also available as a Kindle book and in Paperbackfrom Amazon if you’d like to read along with the audio. [Disclaimer: AA Recovery Interviews podcast strictly adheres to AA’s 12 Traditions and all General Service Office guidelines for safe-guarding anonymity on-line. I pay all podcast production costs. AA Recovery Interviews and my guests do not speak for or represent AA at-large. This podcast is simply my way of giving back to AA that which has so freely been given to me.]
