ESH: Brenda F speaking in Daytona

ESH: Brenda F speaking in Daytona

What can we learn from those who have battled addiction? This speaker meeting with Brenda F from Mulberry, Florida brings that question to life with raw honesty, hard-won experience, and plenty of humour. You’ll hear Brenda trace her journey from an abusive childhood and early marriages into heavy drinking, heroin addiction, prison time, and chaotic relationships with a violent partner and the criminal justice system.

She explains how alcohol was "mental, physical, and spiritual in nature" for her, and how she always drank to get drunk, not for the taste. Her stories of drunk driving, wrecked cars, and near-death crashes are shared without drama for its own sake, but as clear examples of what alcoholism cost her and those around her. The heart of the talk is Brenda’s shift from years of white‑knuckle sobriety in church to finding Alcoholics Anonymous and real relief.

She describes learning to ask for help, starting with a simple computer class where a teacher broke things down "like I would to a small child"—a moment that showed her she didn’t have to know everything, she just had to ask.

Brenda speaks about sponsorship, doing the Steps as daily actions rather than one‑off events, and the importance of women in recovery who "had been everywhere I'd been." Her gratitude shows up as service: she works as a correctional officer, goes into jails and prisons with AA, sponsors women, and sees herself as "just a channel" for what her Higher Power wants done.

If you’re drawn to straightforward, story‑style AA shares with plenty of spiritual growth, practical action, and a bit of wry humour, this one offers a powerful reminder that, as Brenda puts it, "I was the best mother my disease would let me be"—and that life can change when the programme becomes a way of living. How might her journey challenge how you see your own?