ESH: Kip C (A bit of a criminal)

ESH: Kip C (A bit of a criminal)

How do people turn their lives around after addiction? Kip C’s story, recorded at a MARR banquet, takes you from Mexican prisons and mad dog 20/20 to an ordinary life that many in recovery secretly dream of: kids shouting “Daddy’s home”, neighbours waving, and a man who hasn’t had to say he’s sorry in almost a week. Kip calls himself “a bit of a criminal”, and he doesn’t sugar-coat it.

You’ll hear about 200 kilos of contraband, a Mexican penitentiary, parole games, and years spent drinking cheap port wine in a bamboo patch by a 7‑Eleven. He mixes dark humour with brutal honesty, describing alcohol as the “magic elixir” that first took away the terror of his childhood, then took over his entire life. This AA speaker meeting is especially powerful for anyone who thinks they’re “too far gone”.

Kip shares devastating losses: his son’s catastrophic accident, his brother’s death, losing custody of his daughter, and the shame of choosing wine over feeding his child. He shows how those events drove him deeper into the bottle—and why alcohol eventually stopped working altogether. What makes this talk stand out is how clearly Kip lays out the AA path that finally worked for him: commitment, sponsorship, daily meetings, service, and a very practical relationship with a higher power.

His sponsor’s tough love (“people like you don’t get sober”) sits alongside the tenderness of an old-timer who hugged him and said, “don’t go nowhere, baby, we need you desperately.” By the end, you’ll see a very different man: a sober father, a partner, a worker, and an active member of AA who insists that “recovery is possible for anybody” if they’re willing to live by the principles and stay committed.

If you’ve ever wondered whether the 12 steps can reach someone with a “sordid background”, this talk might make you rethink what’s possible in your own life.