Multiple Speakers: Heiko and Dragon

Multiple Speakers: Heiko and Dragon

What remarkable journeys have people faced head-on against addiction? This North Oakland AA speaker meeting brings together two very different voices, Heiko and Dragon, each showing how messy, funny, painful and hopeful sobriety can look. Heiko opens with about ten minutes of honest, slightly nervous sharing. Three years sober, he talks about relapsing three times, drifting through colleges, drugs and chaotic jobs, and then finally taking rehab seriously.

He’s now back in AA, working Step 11 with a new sponsor and doing nightly Step 10 inventories. His story is especially reassuring for anyone who’s “come back again” and worries they’ve blown their chance.

As he puts it, **“I see other people recover here and God damn it gives me hope.”** Dragon follows as the main speaker with around ten years sober, going into a much longer and raw account of childhood abuse, early drinking at 12, blackout stories, and years of swinging between “all fun” drinking and dry, joyless self-control.

She talks frankly about shame, sexual acting out, burning through friendships, and the moment she finally walked into an AA women’s meeting and burst into tears when the whole room turned, smiled and said welcome. Her share walks through getting sober young, learning to socialise without booze, doing the steps despite resistance, making amends to her father, and gradually building real friendships, a marriage, and a life she can actually show up for.

She admits, “Every step that I’ve taken in this program… I’ve taken not believing in it… and then was just floored by the results.” This meeting suits anyone who’s relapsed, feels deeply damaged by family history, or thinks they’re “too messed up” for recovery. You’ll hear two alcoholics who kept coming back, worked the steps imperfectly, and found connection anyway. Maybe their stories might nudge you to give AA an honest shot too.