What happens when you run from your past, only to discover that your addiction comes with you? Marianna L.’s remarkable journey from alcoholism, homelessness, and despair to more than three decades of sobriety is a powerful story of recovery, resilience, and the transforming power of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Raised in a family that moved frequently throughout the United States and Europe, Marianna struggled with loneliness and isolation beneath a lively, outgoing exterior. Alcohol became an early companion. Her considerable talents as an artist, writer, model, and actress brought success in her late teens and early twenties, but escalating drinking and drug use gradually overwhelmed her life.

Hoping a change of scenery would provide a geographic fix, Marianna moved to London. Instead, her addiction followed her. By age 25, alcoholism had left her mostly homeless, hopeless, and unable to stop drinking. With little left to lose, she turned to Alcoholics Anonymous as her last hope.

Since getting sober in 1991, Marianna has embraced the AA Program and its principles as a foundation for virtually every part of her life. She married a fellow recovering alcoholic, raised a daughter, and discovered the gifts of long-term sobriety. Those gifts also helped sustain her through profound challenges, including breast cancer.

Marianna openly discusses the ups and downs of her recovery, including periods when she attended fewer meetings. Yet she never lost her connection to AA. In recent years, Zoom meetings have brought her back into the fellowship with renewed spiritual confidence and a deep commitment to service.

Warm, candid, instructive, and often entertaining, Marianna’s story offers hope to anyone struggling with alcoholism or seeking a path to lasting sobriety.

Enjoy this episode of AA Recovery Interviews with my splendid friend and AA sister, Marianna L.