Do a Fourth Step on Whatever’s Driving You Bonkers — It Works for Life Situations, Not Just Resentments – Priscilla K.

About This Speaker Tape

Priscilla K. tells her story at the Monday Night Blue Chip Speakers meeting at the Nava Club with 36 years of continuous sobriety since March 3, 1981. She grew up around the program — her mother had 37 years in AA when she passed — and attended the very first Alateen group in Memphis, Tennessee at age 13. Despite that early exposure, she still had to walk her own path. She didn't drink until 18, partied through her twenties without crossing the line, and married a man from the program after knowing him just four months. When they moved to Lexington, Kentucky, loneliness and isolation turned her into a daily drinker within months.

By the time they relocated to the Atlanta area in March 1978, Priscilla was a full-blown alcoholic who couldn't drive down I-285 without stopping for beers. She worked at Peachford Hospital, where the A&D unit nurse would give her vitamins and aspirin each morning to get through the day. She eventually stole from her employer, was arrested, and spent two harrowing nights sleeping under a picnic table in DeKalb County Jail — a stone castle of a building packed with twice its capacity. Her mother, director of a women's halfway house in Mississippi, wired bail money through the lieutenant governor, but DeKalb County sent it back.

After getting out of jail on Saturday, she reluctantly went to a meeting Sunday night at Parkway Hospital in Decatur, where her husband's knee accidentally bumped her leg just as they asked for white chips — and she popped up. She found her way to Clarkson, a group of 100-150 people, where women with real sobriety reached out and loved her when she couldn't love herself. They gave her the secret password: don't drink, go to meetings, get a sponsor. She started washing ashtrays and coffee cups, worked the steps multiple times, and helped found the Peachtree Corners group.

Priscilla's sobriety was tested by enormous losses — her husband of 37 years died, she was fired two weeks later, and she lost three siblings in three months. Each time, she leaned into the program rather than picking up a drink. She describes the evolution of her relationship with Higher Power from hostile skepticism to a constant companionship, and credits the tenth step and repeated inventories for keeping her honest. She closes by urging newcomers to stay until the miracle happens, because at 36 years sober, she has a peace and serenity she didn't know existed.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Chris Warrick opens the Blue Chip Speakers meeting at the Nava Club and introduces Priscilla with a story about dancing together at a Tinsley concert
• 3:30 Priscilla introduces herself — sobriety date March 3, 1981, member of Peachtree Parkway group — and shares that her mother would have had 60 years in AA
• 5:30 Attended the first Alateen group in Memphis at 13, didn't drink until 18, partied through her twenties without crossing the line into alcoholism
• 9:00 Married a man from the program after four months, moved to Lexington, Kentucky where loneliness turned her into a daily drinker within months
• 13:00 Moved to Atlanta area in 1978 as full-blown alcoholic, worked at Peachford Hospital where the A&D nurse gave her vitamins each morning
• 16:00 Arrested for stealing from Peachford, two nights in overcrowded DeKalb County Jail sleeping under picnic tables, mother's bail money rejected
• 22:00 Sunday night at Parkway Hospital meeting — husband's knee bumps her leg during the chip call and she pops up for a white chip
• 26:00 Clarkson group with 100-150 people, washing ashtrays and coffee cups, the secret password: don't drink, go to meetings, get a sponsor
• 31:00 Sponsor from New York City she initially rejected has been her sponsor for 30 years — learning to use the fourth step for life situations
• 35:00 Husband's death, being fired two weeks later, losing three siblings in three months — staying sober through devastating losses by calling another woman in the program