455- Jeri Dawn - What is My Purpose - Tri Cities Event455- Jeri Dawn - What is My Purpose - Tri Cities Event
Sober Speak- Alcoholics Anonymous Recovery Interviews
Jeri Dawn shares a candid, often funny yet deeply moving account of her path from early chaos, shame and lost motherhood to long-term sobriety and clear purpose in AA. Her talk at the Tri Cities event highlights surrender, the steps and sponsorship as the core of her transformation.
1:18:23•3 Jul 2026
Finding Purpose After Chaos: Jeri Dawn at the Tri Cities AA Event
Episode Overview
- Alcoholism cannot be parented out of a child, even in a loving and stable home.
- Real change began when Jeri fully surrendered and asked, "I don't know what to do. What do I do now?"
- Detoxing in AA meetings and engaging with sponsorship and the steps provided a foundation for lasting sobriety.
- A thorough fifth step and formal amends brought a deep sense of forgiveness and a new relationship with a higher power.
- Consistent service, especially sponsoring women and supporting her home group, gives Jeri a clear purpose in recovery.
“From the time that I did that fifth step to this very day, right here, right now, I've never not once asked, what is my purpose and why am I here.”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? This Tri Cities live event episode of **Sober Speak** follows Jeri Dawn from Oklahoma City as she talks frankly, hilariously and very honestly about her journey through alcoholism, motherhood and finding a clear sense of purpose in Alcoholics Anonymous. You’ll hear Jeri describe growing up in a loving, stable home and still feeling that restless, irritable and discontented itch that alcohol seemed to soothe.
She shares her first crime and first drink at nine, being pregnant at 13, and the spiritual damage that followed choices she never thought she’d make. Her line that "alcoholism cannot be parented out of a child" hits hard, especially for anyone wondering whether they "caused" a loved one’s drinking. The episode’s style is raw but funny.
Jeri mixes serious reflection with sharp humour about toxic relationships she once called "passion", her love for men with DOC numbers, and being "just another bozo on the bus" who had to be beaten into surrender. Her story turns when she crawls back into the tiny Back Alley Group in Chickasha, detoxes in AA meetings and finally says, "I don't know what to do.
What do I do now?" – a question that becomes the doorway to sponsorship, the steps and long-term sobriety.
One of the most powerful sections centres on her fifth step with an old-timer who tells her, "And I love you." That moment cracks years of shame, opens the possibility of a loving God and leads her to relentless service: sponsoring women, founding the Whiskey Inn Milk women’s group, and becoming a sober mum to the three children once removed from her care.
By the time she says she no longer asks "What is my purpose?" because she knows it’s to carry a message that might save someone’s life, you’ll be left asking yourself: what purpose might sobriety reveal for you?
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