The Disease of Alcoholism as an Elevator – Marie L.

About This Speaker Tape

1962, an Ohio reformatory. Marie L. arrived as a "hollowed-out egg," a shell of a person who had spent years descending the elevator of a progressive disease.

She describes a life of "self-will run riot," moving from the high-society parties of Paris and Germany—where cognac was delivered to the door—to the wreckage of bankruptcy, eviction notices, and a child killed by a drunk driver. The drinking shifted from pretty glasses to "a shot and a beer" at a neighborhood bar, punctuated by blackouts and bad checks written to supermarkets. After a year in prison and a cold-turkey detox involving "seeing bugs," she found a Higher Power and a way to forgive herself for the chaos she left in her wake.

She rebuilt a home from Salvation Army furniture and bunk beds provided by the fellowship, eventually trading the "knot in her gut" for a life of service and dependability.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Marie L. opens with a joke about her broken collarbone and a prompt for the women in the room.
• 5:15 Discussion of the 'Whitman Sampler' and the nature of alcoholic compulsion.
• 12:40 Marie L. describes the 'glamour years' in Paris and Germany, drinking cognac and red wine.
• 18:20 The tragedy of her son's death and the 'knot in the gut' that followed.
• 25:10 The 'insanity' of moving seven children into a house with no running water.
• 32:45 Laughter: The story of Hollis L. writing notes to himself about his hidden bottles.
• 36:10 Marie L. describes her arrest for insufficient funds and her time in the Ohio Reformatory for Women.
• 42:30 Step 1 and the 'hollowed-out egg' feeling of early recovery.
• 48:15 The Fifth Step experience and the 'prayer of absolution' with her priest.
• 55:20 Discussion of the 'power of example' in repairing relationships with her children.
• 1:02:10 The story of her husband's relapse and the intervention of Father LeB.
• 1:15:40 Final reflections on the Higher Power within and a prayer for her daughter, Karen.