Am I Interested in Telling My Story? No. Will I? Yes 🫠 – Amnesty S.
About This Speaker Tape
Amnesty tells her story at the Monday Night Blue Chip Speakers Meeting on Zoom, sober since August 1, 2014. She grew up in Virginia feeling unwanted by her father and stepmother, a step-brother and step-sister who seemed more loved, and a sense that something was wrong with her. From the first drink, alcohol was how she coped. In ninth grade, drunk teenagers drove over hills chasing the butterfly feeling; the driver missed a turn, and Amnesty was ejected through a closed sunroof. She broke her shoulder, pelvis, had a brain and spinal injury, tore off the left side of her face, lost the total volume of her blood, and spent 21 days in the hospital. It didn't stop her. In tenth grade she was locked in a room with two boys at a party; when she pressed charges, the school sided with the popular seniors and reconfirmed every feeling of worthlessness she already had.
She moved to Atlanta at 18, flunked out of college, got a DUI at 20 and drove drunk again the same night, got fired from a bartending job for screaming at customers, hit a parked car, and dropped to 96 pounds. Her boyfriend, now her fiancé, was in recovery and told her he couldn't stay with her if she kept drinking. She quit in August 2014 with no program — white-knuckled for a year and got worse. A friend outside a Chipotle heard her say, 'If he leaves me, I will be drinking tomorrow,' and something shifted. She got a sponsor, started the steps, hit a rough patch, and was driving to Buford to drink when a thought told her to go to Serenity House instead. She turned left instead of right, walked into a women's meeting, and surrendered.
The spiritual breakthrough came after her car was broken into and her weapon stolen — panicked that she had supplied a killer, she got on her knees and said the Serenity Prayer slowly, word by word, for an hour. The guilt lifted by morning. The bigger miracle was making amends to her father and stepmother after three years of being 'willing to be willing.' She walked in with 25 years of hatred, kept the amends simple, and walked out free. Her stepmother later texted, 'I'm sorry if I ever made you feel like I didn't love you — because I did.'
Today she is a stepmom to a nearly-nine-year-old she's raised since age two, a University of Georgia graduate after seven years and three applications, a licensed realtor, a sponsor, and a fixture at Serenity House. She describes life with a calm mind, the ability to pause, friends who pray with her, and freedom to walk through Vegas, weddings, and bachelorette parties without being enslaved to alcohol. The problem was always inside her; the solution was turning left.
Discussion
Be the first to share your thoughts on this tape.