The Inventory That Could Not Be Written: Willingness Mattered More Than Literacy – Ann P.

About This Speaker Tape

Ann shares at the first Tampa roundup in 1990, sober since June 16, 1968. She came to AA at 23, left after one meeting, and returned eight months later weighing 85 pounds with a damaged liver. She could not read or write when she got sober — a secret she carried until her sponsor insisted she do inventory anyway.

She describes the spiritual awakening of finally being fully present at a meeting after six years. She shares her ongoing battle with a stealing obsession in sobriety, making amends to the store produce man and discovering he was in AA. She grew up in Ireland in a violent home, came to the US, and found through the steps that she must forgive herself as a human being making human errors.

Topics

Timestamps

• 00:00 Sober since 1968 — came to AA at twenty-three and left after one meeting
• 08:00 Returned eight months later weighing eighty-five pounds with a damaged liver
• 16:00 Could not read or write when she got sober — a secret she carried for years
• 24:00 Sponsor insisted she do inventory anyway despite not being able to write
• 32:00 Spiritual awakening of being fully present at a meeting after six years
• 40:00 Ongoing battle with a stealing obsession in sobriety
• 48:00 Making amends to the store produce man and discovering he was in AA
• 56:00 Growing up in Ireland in a violent home and forgiving herself as a human being