Keep Coming Back Podcast

Mike shares his Experience, Strength and Hope in this open and vulnerable share as he celebrates his 14th year of sobriety and his mother, who paved the way for him, celebrates her 34th year. Right out of the gate Mike never felt a part of and learned early on about masks and pretending. He describes himself as an unteachable emotional kid that knew everything. Mike had a ferocious appetite for mo...

Jim shares his Experience, Strength and Hope with over 20 years of sobriety. Today Jim is a mindfulness coach and brings a lot of his healing experience and techniques to his calm share. Jim was a blackout drinker, waking up regularly to gather the clues of the night before. He describes himself as altered all the time and at one point got terribly wrapped up in sports gambling which led to suicid...

Jose shares his Experience, Strength and Hope by detailing his struggle and recovery as an alcoholic and addict. Jose grew up in a rough New Jersey neighborhood, where drugs were rampant and his family didn’t fit in. Though his dad found sobriety, he did not stick around the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous, which led to untreated anger causing over-the-top discipline with bats, sticks and constant b...

Josh shares his Experience, Strength and Hope as the very first atheist on Keep Coming Back. He is a fantastic example of taking what works for him, and leaving the rest. He also has his own podcast: An Atheist Reads the Big Book . Josh had his first drink as a little tot, perhaps 2 or 3 years old. It became a family joke that Josh would grow up to be an alcoholic. His parents were teenage partyer...

CJ shares his Experience, Strength and Hope a dozen years into his sobriety. Abuse, fear and trauma are a theme in CJ’s story, primarily due to the verbal and physical abuse from his father. However, the story turns beautiful when CJ finds himself unable to stop drinking and reaches out to that same father for help, who at the time had decades of sobriety. CJ knew there was hope, because he witnes...

Chris shares his Experience, Strength and Hope as a real old-timer with old-wisdom from the heart of Alcoholics Anonymous: Akron, Ohio. Chris grew up in a military family, with a father he feared, a new home every two years and the feeling of complete loneliness. He watched the calm alcohol brought to his dad and wanted to see what it was all about, and so at 9 yrs old Chris’ drinking career began...

Wes shares his Experience, Strength and Hope from the birthplace of Alcoholics Anonymous: Akron, Ohio.  An overweight, poor child growing up with alcoholic parents Wes never felt accepted or good enough. Raised by his housekeeper, Wes “knew” he was unwanted. Wes tried hard to fit in, and eventually alcohol did the trick. It was the 80’s: fast cars, money and a sense of entitlement took Wes over. A...

Bryce shares his Experience, Strength and Hope – sober at 17 years old he literally grew up in the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous. Bryce also grew up in an Alcoholic household, with lots of drunk driving, screaming, play throwing and more – he dealt with this by escaping into drugs and alcohol. His first drunk was planned and enjoyed at 9 yrs old and his first overdose at only 11 yrs. Bryce became...

Kelley shares her Experience, Strength and Hope in this detailed account of her journey from alcoholic-addict to sober and free member of Alcoholics Anonymous. An extremist, Kelley had all or nothing thinking and behavior—if some is good, more is better. From eating disorder and meth, to a straight A student and college athlete, to psych wards, DUIs, ICUs, and jail, to marrying a cop to dating a m...

Roger shares his Experience, Strength and Hope as a master quoter of all things poetic, powerful and thought-worthy. As a young gay boy Roger was constantly beaten up for being different. This created an excessive self-concentration in him, a high alert to everything around him and was the beginnings of a life of fear, shame and exhaustion. In second grade he wrote a story about committing suicide...

Shawn shares his Experience, Strength and Hope after several years of much loss—the recent death of his mother and brother have brought him to new levels of spirituality. Shawn grew up with an active father alcoholic with abuse, dysfunction and unpredictability. From early childhood he sought relief in the form of substances. And as his peers were moving on to college and life, his addiction and a...

Catherine shares her Experience, Strength and Hope with great gratitude and understanding of both the disease and the beautiful gifts of recovery. Catherine was only 17 years old when she got sober, which means she never really had much of a childhood—at 14, addicted to cocaine and drinking daily. The amount of pain and suffering she once experienced alongside the joy and grace she has in her life...

Sahar shares her Experience, Strength and Hope—as an addict and alcoholic she goes into details that we don’t often hear in the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous. This is a true story, told with completely vulnerability. One of five children in a Spanish-speaking home and English-speaking school, Sahar always felt “different than.” Sahar was a wild child with a bad attitude, who refused to follow dire...

David shares his Experience, Strength and Hope with a deep desire to keep his current, and second, sobriety date. Growing up in Southern California, with semi-hippy parents—freedom, love, and peace were core attributes to David’s childhood. The framework David had for what it’s like to be an adult was beach parties, joints, beer, and surfing—clothing optional. Drugs and alcohol attracted him more...

Jason shares his Experience, Strength and Hope with two decades of sobriety. Jason was closeted for much of his young life, and with sobriety and the program, he has grown into a husband, father and active member of Alcoholics Anonymous—has a sponsor, sponsors others, still works the steps, and still grows. From a family of many alcoholics, some in recovery, some not, and some that were taken by t...

Sunshine shares her Experience, Strength and Hope with a preacher’s enthusiasm and powerful joy. Though she has decades of sobriety, she walks us carefully through the darkness that once was her disease, and brings us through to the light of sobriety. Born and raised in the Bronx to a deeply loving and affectionate family, Sunshine began life with a solid foundation. However, at 4 years old her fa...

Ajit shares his Experience, Strength and Hope with a contagious optimism, despite career setbacks and the confusing disease of alcoholism. Ajit grew up in Florida, in a happy and loving home. Both an extroverted and charismatic kid, he was known to take things to the next level, the last standing player, never wanting the fun to end. This foreshadowed his blackout-drinking journey to come. Vegetar...

Josh shares his Experience, Strength and Hope with a unique perspective of the program, having been sober since he was 19 years old, Josh grew up in the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous. A mere 10 years old when he had his first drink; only a kid who thought that everyone blacked out when they drank. It wasn’t long before Josh was a regular in Juvenile Hall, and with that came a reality of fear and h...

Jim shares his Experience, Strength and Hope with a full circle story from a life with a God, to without, to back again with a new version. Jim grew up in a home with no alcohol, but a lot of alcoholic behavior and side effects of past generations. Once extremely active in church, even a frequent at Christian rock festivals, Jim had a religious foundation. But it didn’t take much to shake that off...

Benjamin shares his Experience, Strength and Hope 2 years into a fresh new run of sobriety. A well-trained psychotherapist today, Benjamin brings his knowledge and expertise subtly into his share. His first meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous was at the young age of 22 years. Prior to that he was hooked on sports, which balanced his life well . . . until an injury in college, when he quickly went down...

Jonjon shares his Experience, Strength and Hope as he wraps up his 12th year of sobriety. Jonjon touches on the many levels of a suffering alcoholic, as well as the serenity and peace of recovery . . . and he does so with clever humor. Growing up in Ohio was a bad fit for a young gay boy—from the beginning Jonjon felt trapped. His first addiction was TV, and recalls the relief of checking out. Soo...

Lynne shares her Experience, Strength and Hope with her story of food, alcohol and cocaine addiction. Lynne holds nothing back in sharing her honest journey to a life of freedom . . . again. Lynne grew up in a dysfunctional home with an alcoholic father, rage-alcoholic mother and a ton of Catholic schoolgirl guilt. An extremely emotional child with outbursts and meltdowns, her father would lock he...

Nancy shares her Experience, Strength and Hope as she makes her second round in the program—she is a fantastic cautionary tale for anyone slipping away from their program. The youngest of 5 children, growing up in a Hispanic, Catholic home there was a ton of love, but also drama, uncertainly, fear and unlimited access to alcohol. Shortly after her first drink, Nancy became depressed and suicidal,...

Melanie shares her Experience, Strength and Hope with 10 years of sobriety, while happily married and pregnant with her second son. Raised in a chaotic home where dad would give the silent treatment for weeks, Melanie became an overachieving perfectionist: president of student council, captain of the soccer team, best babysitter. The combination of maintaining an impeccable reputation and feeling...

Maureen shares her Experience, Strength and Hope at 71 years old - with decades of sobriety. Raised in a military home with an alcoholic father and bipolar mother that enabled him, Maureen says she was an alcoholic in the making from the beginning. She began running away at the tiny age of 3, and at 4 yrs, she would wake up to drink glasses of liquor left from the night before. Maureen's fath...