The Tacky Tension of a Lawyer with an Al-Anon Wife – Jerry J.

About This Speaker Tape

3 Legacies-Eden Prairie, MN -

Jerry J. a high-powered Dallas lawyer and senior partner in a major firm maps out the wreckage of a life lived in a state of perpetual anger and self-delusion. He describes the 'tacky' tension of his wife Billy B. attending Al-Anon while he played the part of the successful professional terrified that his partners would find out he was an alcoholic. Jerry J. recounts his failed attempt at 'controlled drinking'—trying to pass a test by limiting himself to three drinks a day—and the eventual collapse that left him waking up at 10 PM on New Year's Eve. He dismantles the myth of willpower sharing how he quit smoking but remained powerless over alcohol. Through the lens of a fishbowl he once managed with a 'dip net' for the bad fish he illustrates his own self-centeredness. He concludes with the quiet strength he found to support his mother through her final battle with cancer a peace he attributes solely to a Higher Power.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:45 Laughter: Story about a speeding driver and an Al-Anon wife.
• 6:15 Jerry J. discusses the fear of his law partners discovering his alcoholism.
• 11:30 The 'B-Y-O-D' party and Jerry J.'s first AA meeting.
• 15:20 The New Year's Eve bottom: waking up at 10 PM after passing out at 5 PM.
• 19:45 The 'controlled drinking' test and the failure of willpower.
• 25:10 Jerry J.'s first prayer to a 'dim Higher Power' after reading the 24-hour book.
• 32:40 Discussion of the physical allergy and mental obsession (The Doctor's Opinion).
• 38:15 The story of the fishbowl and the 'dip net' as a metaphor for self-centeredness.
• 44:50 The shift from a self-centered life to a Higher Power-centered life.
• 51:20 Step 9: Making amends to his parents by sending them the Big Book.
• 56:10 The experience of being the strength for his mother during her final days.