AA Recovery Interviews with Howard L. · Howard L.

Jennifer S. - Sober 2 Years

·1 hr 6 min·5 clips

Jennifer drank 13 to 15 double shots of vodka daily while working as an attorney.

This episode of AA Recovery Interviews features host Howard L. and guest Jennifer S., who shares her story of achieving two years of sobriety in Alcoholics Anonymous. Jennifer is an attorney and a mother who traces her alcoholism back to a family culture of normalized drinking and underlying dysfunction. Her narrative details a progression from weekend drinking in her youth to a hidden, daily dependency on vodka as an adult. Jennifer grew up in a Venezuelan-American household where frequent parties made alcohol accessible from childhood. Her mother was a functional alcoholic in denial, and two of Jennifer's brothers later died from cocaine addiction. Jennifer began drinking at 15, initially to overcome shyness, but her drinking became a coping mechanism after her mother's death in 2007. She describes consuming 13 to 15 shots of vodka daily while maintaining her career and parenting three children. Her first marriage ended due to her husband's infidelity, which she discovered by placing a tracker on his car, and her drinking intensified afterward. She remarried quickly to her ex-husband's affair partner's ex-husband, who was also an alcoholic. A turning point came on Mother's Day 2022, when she drank alone in bed, felt a "drive for survival," and entered detox and rehab. Her children eventually chose to live primarily with their father to avoid her emotional unavailability during her active addiction. A surprising insight is Jennifer's description of alcohol having an "amphetamine-like effect" on her initially, allowing her to complete tasks like cleaning. She notes that her functional appearance—keeping a job and avoiding legal trouble—delayed recognition of her problem by herself and others. Jennifer reflects that she married men who subconsciously mirrored her parents, first a figure like her father and then one like her mother. She admits she made major life decisions, including filing for divorce and remarrying, with "the insane person at the wheel." The episode reveals how her siblings' cocaine-related deaths, while deterring her from that drug, did not initially curb her alcohol use. Jennifer explains that her mother, an enabler, would encourage her brothers to drink alcohol in a misguided attempt to prevent cocaine use. The conversation has a reflective and candid tone, structured as a personal interview focused on experience and recovery. Howard guides the discussion chronologically, prompting Jennifer to explore her family history, pivotal moments, and emotional insights. This episode would resonate strongly with newcomers in early recovery or those from dysfunctional family backgrounds, as Jennifer's story is recent and details the transition from functional to desperate addiction. Listeners seeking stories of long-term sobriety or those uncomfortable with detailed discussions of family trauma might find it less suited to their interests.

As heard by us

A plainspoken recovery story about drinking, family strain, and the hard stop that brought Jennifer S. back to A.A.

Jennifer S. traces drinking from teenage coping into adulthood, where it sat alongside her work as an attorney, her marriage, and the years she stayed home with three children.

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Why you'd press play

When you want a recovery story that moves through marriage, parenting, and blackout drinking.

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