Two Miracles at His First Meeting: He Understood and He Believed – Bill C.

About This Speaker Tape

Bill C. from Charlotte, North Carolina shares his story at the 15th Marietta Roundup in Georgia. Raised in a home with both alcoholism and Southern Baptist religion, he knew from childhood that he would never drink — until peer pressure introduced him to cheap wine at fifteen, and a six-week social drinking career ended the night alcohol did something it only does for ten percent of people. It made him comfortable in an uncomfortable world, filled a hole he did not know was there, and the phenomenon of craving took over from that moment.

Bill breaks down Dr. Silkworth's concept of the allergy with wit and precision, comparing his wife Kay's ability to simply stop drinking when she feels it with his own inability to stop once the pilot was lit. His fourteen-year drinking career ended in dirty underwear, standing in the living room tapering off, when he finally called Alcoholics Anonymous. His wife, who had found Al-Anon through the same AA contact months earlier, broke the rhythm of his disease by getting well herself. On June 2, 1967, she asked, can we call Bill? — and he said yes because he was finally out of schemes, plans, and delay tactics.

At his first speaker meeting, two miracles happened: he understood the man at the podium was describing his own hopeless condition, and — for the first time in years — he believed another human being. Bill describes the steps as the path to a freedom he never imagined: the ability to walk down any street without changing sides to avoid someone. The greatest gift of the program came when he momentarily cared more about someone else than himself, a feeling he had never experienced before AA.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Bill C. from Charlotte, North Carolina shares his story at the 15th Marietta Roundup in Georgia.
• 7:00 Raised in a home with both alcoholism and Southern Baptist religion, he knew from childhood that he would never drink u2014 until peer pressure introduced him to cheap wine at fifteen, and a six-week...
• 14:00 Bill breaks down Dr. Silkworth's concept of the allergy with wit and precision, comparing his wife Kay's ability to simply stop drinking when she feels it with his own inability to stop once the pi...
• 21:00 His fourteen-year drinking career ended in dirty underwear, standing in the living room tapering off, when he finally called Alcoholics Anonymous. His wife, who had found Al-Anon through the same A...
• 28:00 On June 2, 1967, she asked, can we call Bill? u2014 and he said yes because he was finally out of schemes, plans, and delay tactics.
• 35:00 At his first speaker meeting, two miracles happened: he understood the man at the podium was describing his own hopeless condition, and u2014 for the first time in years u2014 he believed another human...
• 42:00 The greatest gift of the program came when he momentarily cared more about someone else than himself, a feeling he had never experienced before AA.