The Boiled Owl

As a doctor, Tommie would come in at 12:30PM. Awake at 4AM, she was not OK with drinking then because that would be morning drinking, so she prescribed sleeping pills to herself. Oddly, there were times when many of the pills were missing. Clients would step over her passed out body in the bar. She had LOTS of blackouts. She went to her first meeting in 1985 "to help clients." She didn't think she...

Drew got sober at 24. He sneaked airplane bottles into a 7th grade dance, equated fun with drinking, and alcohol preceded everything he did. His DUIs led him to treatment to avoid jail. Drew shares about a major health issue where he was facing death at 30 and how even that didn't stop his drinking. The science of alcoholism was the first inroad to him "getting it." Drew's sobriety date is 25FEB20...

Paul came into AA in 2003 with the desire to stop drinking but didn't stop. He would go to the bar after a meeting. He got a DUI in his first 2 weeks in AA. Paul talks about motorcycle riding and Daytona... coffees to non-alcoholic beer to free beer with a t-shirt. Back home, he got a sponsor. Sober and out with friends, they were laughing too hard and were asked to leave an establishment. Paul's...

Leslie was in and out for 18 months. In a family program for her husband's treatment, she was pulled aside and asked how much she drank. Corked wine vs. screw-top... Giving wine and then stealing it back... The Great Baked Chicken Experiment... Recently, a 10th Step led to a 4th. Leslie got sober on 01APR1991 and her home group is Keeping It Green in Greensboro, NC. Originally aired Sep 1, 2019

Jackie got sober in North Carolina. She is working to find a balance between AA and life. She was saved multiple times from drinking, just at the moment of ordering a drink, by events that she attributes to her higher power. She saw a change when she began to share honestly in meetings about what was going on with her. I didn’t edit out any pauses between thoughts in Jackie's recording; she really...

Greg got sober in Tampa, Florida. Daily Prayer and meditation is a big part of his recovery. He had a relapse after 2 1/2 years. The only furniture in his apartment when he got sober was a bed. His most pivotal moment was realizing the wall he held between himself and his children. That enabled him to surrender and return to AA. Greg's sobriety date is 06JUL1993 and his home group is Summit Fellow...

Lorna got sober in Phoenix, AZ, on her 32nd birthday... by accident. She spent 8 weeks in rehab. "I didn't want what I had." At 5 years sober, she helped clean someone's house, without wanting to. We discuss meeting styles, service positions, and meditation. Lorna's home group is the Oasis Group in Raleigh, NC. Her sobriety date is 26JUN1994. Lorna contacted us via boiledowlaa.org and we were thri...

Michael's parents knew something was awry early on; he was introduced to AA long before he was interested in it. He was intoxicated at his first meeting. He came to realize he was an alcoholic in the years that followed. His family couldn't trust him and he pushed them away. Even is drinking/using buddies didn't want anything to do with him. On probation when he went to treatment, it was the first...

Sallie had a traumatic event - we talk about pain meds and her use of the program for an ongoing resentment about the effects of the trauma. She was alcoholic for years and knew it; she drank every night. She met a guy in recovery and did controlled drinking or no drinking. Then she went to Al-Anon and realized they were talking about her. Sallie went to lots of speaker meetings and heard her stor...

Regarding AA, Keven was concerned about the "religious aspect." Keven talks about his first day sober and being stir crazy. His first meeting was on Step 1. A 6-week elimination diet led to his realization that alcohol was a problem for him. He drank only beer the last year due to a family vacation incident involving liquor. Keven got a sponsor and a home group within the first month of his sobrie...

Dorisa decided to get dry a week before her wedding and got sober after her honeymoon. She tried AA a year earlier (but not really) and smoked pot during that. Her drinking caused lots of destruction in the lives of those around her. We have a great start-over chip discussion. Steps 4 & 5 were big for her, leading to "I'm not the victim anymore." Dorisa's home group is 16th Street in Greensbor...

A guy Thomas was making meth with told him about AA. Thomas used lots of drugs but didn't feel connected in NA. He felt connected in AA but read more NA literature at first. When he moved to Washington, DC, the AA members there called him instead of expecting him to call them. For his first 6 months of sobriety, he lived behind a recovery clubhouse and went to the 8AM AA meeting daily. Thomas's so...

Alex's sobriety date is also his divorce date. He lost the security of living with his wife and had no job. He came to AA familiar with it from DUIs. Alex downloaded and printed his first copy of the Big Book. We have a good chat about emotional sobriety and how to choose a sponsor. He completed his degree in sobriety and is going back for more. Alex's home group is Young People in Greensboro, NC....

Jody went to AA as a teen because her sister took her. She got rid of her boyfriend and moved, but still drank - though had 1 & 2-week dry spells. She went back to AA in Norfolk, VA, at 21. Jody really hoped alcohol wasn't the problem and she struggled with the "God idea," but worked the steps in her first 6 months. When she got a new sponsor, she did them again. Steps 4 & 5 were powerful...

Tyler first got sober at 17. He worked the steps and even started an AA meeting in Wilmington, NC. NCCYPAA was an important part of his recovery. He went back out; it got worse. He was homeless and emotionally, mentally, and physically broken. He went to jail and rehab many times. His father, a drug counselor, asked him to give it one year. He did. He moved to High Point, NC, where he joined NA an...

Roberta got sober in Brooklyn, NYC. Being fired led her to the rooms of AA, an organization she'd never heard of. Her neighbor had just started and told her about it. She'd tried to quit on her own and was miserable. Alcohol was the glue that held her life together. She was a drinker from 18 to 38, with a career that allowed her to drink at lunch. Roberta was in the World Trade Center on September...

Alan went to two meetings at 17, but wasn't ready. At age 25, he went to meetings for about 2 weeks before picking up a start chip. His attorney suggested AA. In the second meeting, he got hope. He was 12th-stepped as he was trying to "slide out" at the end of a meeting. The "God thing" was an obstacle. A candlelit meeting was really helpful to him. Alan's sobriety date is 17NOV1983 and his home g...

Chris was ordered to go to AA by the courts, but he didn't need it then; he was just unlucky. 6 DUIs later... He started going to AA again in 2000 and also going out to eat with members after the meetings. He went to AA meetings in a clubhouse and would stay there all day. When he moved, he checked out AA and didn't feel it - didn't get a sponsor or go to meetings. He drank shortly thereafter, sta...

Amber left her husband for an affair with her boss. Her boss said she was too messed up. She got a DUI and woke up in jail. She found herself drinking and calling rehabs - rehab would look good for court. She found more excuses not to go. She had 2 days in detox and then went to rehab. From there, she took suggestions: live in a women's Oxford house, get a sponsor, get a network. She jumped into s...

Scott got sober at 40 in treatment. He moved to Los Angeles and his family stayed behind (divorce). It was 2 years before he returned. He called his dealer and asked her not to sell to him, then called her a month later; she didn't call him back. His early sobriety was in LA, where he went to a meeting at the Screen Actors Guild and saw his old bartender... who became his sponsor. His 9th step to...

Jean started drinking at 15 and stopped at 45. She was home alone often and her body would scream for alcohol. She drank wine from a coffee mug. She was miserable when her husband was home because she had to be sober then. Her last drink wasn't her choice. She went to a 28-day program and then a long-term recovery center for 3 months. She went to a meeting daily for 2 years. Speaker meetings were...

John started with drugs at 13. In middle and high school, his friends could just do weekends but John couldn't stop. At 14, he went to his first meeting (NA), did 90 in 90, got 6 months and did some stepwork. He tried many other times to get sober, but it never stuck. At 16, he was in treatment for 6 months and got drunk and high within 2 weeks of leaving. He considered suicide for a year and gave...

What?! It's that time of year again?!??! Boiled Owl alumni, Alex and Miranda, join us again to talk about the holidays. Hold on, this one's a hoot! Originally aired Nov 15, 2018

Reality set in after Karen's husband left, furthering her drinking. Her first chip was a start-over chip. She didn't understand sponsorship at first and then got a sponsor at 6 months. Gratitude was a big part of her early recovery. For Karen, Step 5 was public and painful but allowed self-forgiveness. Karen's home group is Big Book No Smoke in Greensboro, NC, and her sobriety date is 04MAY1997. O...

Steve came to AA on crutches, having jumped out of a moving car in a blackout. His first sponsor was assigned to him. He started drinking and using drugs at 11. He yelled at God, cursing him and then got a call from an AA member needing jumper cables. He went all-in after his first meeting and started helping newcomers at 2 weeks. He has a beautiful 12th-Step story about taking the train from work...