Mike’s story is classic tale of a life dragged to the brink of ruin by alcoholism. Brought up in a mostly normal home, his introduction to booze in was similar to many of us alcoholics who started drinking in our teens. Mike liked the effects produced by alcohol and continued to drink through six years in the Navy and for years after. Negative consequences, including two failed marriages piled up around Mike’s drinking. He started losing everything until he literally had nothing more than the clothes on his back. On the street and barely subsisting, Mike fell to his knees at a bus stop and asked God for help. That was his moment of clarity and the turning point in his otherwise wretched life. Mike sought out treatment at the VA hospital and sober living arrangements which tethered him to an AA Program that was his last hope for survival. But it worked. Mike finally resigned from the debating society and followed his sponsor’s blue print for recovery set forth in late December 1994. He has been sober ever since.
Mike’s journey of sober life is not dissimilar to that of many long-term recovered alcoholics in AA. He continues to do all that the Program suggests and has been of continuous service to his fellows. His third marriage, to a woman in Alcoholics Anonymous, is a long-term and cherished gift in both their lives, made possible by active participation in AA.
I believe you’ll be both inspired and enriched by my interview with Mike. He and I have been close for a very long time and his authenticity as a loyal member of AA comes through every time he shares. So please sit back and enjoy the next hour and ten minutes of AA Recovery Interviews with my good friend and AA Brother, Mike V.
If you’ve enjoyed my AA Recovery Interviews series, have a listen to 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 iTunes. It’s also available as a Kindle book and in Paperback from Amazon if you’d like to read along with the audio.
I also invite you to check out my latest audio book, “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, i-Tunes, or Amazon.
[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 been so freely given to me. – Howard L.]