The Pathological Lying That Only the Steps Could Fix – Terry R.

About This Speaker Tape

Brooklyn, New York, smelling of corned beef, cabbage, and "Russian the Growler" beer. Terry R. grew up in a plastic bubble, a sheltered Irish Catholic existence that left her emotionally four years old at twenty-three. Boredom and isolation led to a slow slide into dependency—first beer, then highballs, then a dangerous cocktail of dexedrine and booze that made her heart "go right through her dress." The wreckage mounted: a split head from a fainting spell, a harrowing ten-day stint tied down in a Coney Island hospital during DTs, and a life spent pathologically lying to cover the tracks.

Terry describes herself as a "menagerie" of immaturity, once dialing CBS to speak with a soap opera character she identified with. It took the humiliation of a neighbor asking her not to visit while drinking to push her toward a Higher Power. After years of "geographic" escapes and a failed marriage, Terry found stability in a Marysville group of steelhead fishermen. By committing to a home group ...

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Terry S. introduces herself and discusses her strict Catholic upbringing in Brooklyn.
• 5:15 Laughter: Terry S. describes her 'housewives fatigue' and the psychiatrist who suggested a beer while ironing.
• 8:30 Terry S. recounts the Dexedrine pills that made her heart race but allowed her to do housework.
• 11:45 Description of the DTs and being tied down in a Coney Island hospital.
• 15:20 The humiliation of being told by a neighbor not to visit while drinking.
• 18:45 Terry S.'s first AA meeting and the realization that she identified with the speakers.
• 22:10 The 'mad dash' across the coast in a Volkswagen with babies and 25 dollars.
• 26:30 Finding a home group in Marysville among steelhead fishermen and the importance of service.
• 31:15 Terry S.'s visit to Stepping Stones, the home of Bill W.
• 35:40 Laughter: The joke about Oral R. and the introduction of Ellen B.
• 40:10 Ellen B. shares her childhood trauma and the pattern of gravitating toward alcoholics.
• 48:50 Ellen B. describes the 'plug wires' incident and her journey toward detachment in Al-Anon.