Corey moves from the Doctor’s Opinion into Bill’s story, and explains up front why he’s splitting it in two. Pages one through nine leave a man exactly where the book intends to leave him — in the hopeless condition, physical and mental, with the way out still a week away. He opens with the facts: William Griffith Wilson, born in East Dorset, Vermont, married to Lois for fifty-three years, dead in 1971 at seventy-five. Then he walks the text line by line, marking what he’s underlined and circled in his own copy and explaining why. The capitalized “Over There” and “High Finance,” and what it means that a man’s higher power keeps changing addresses. The moment on page one where Bill was part of life at last, and how many times most of us have had that same moment. The slow migration of liquor from luxury to necessity. The belladonna treatment and what a rapid detox actually looked like in 1933. Threaded through it are Corey’s own parallels, offered without much cushioning — a serenity prayer carved above a bunk, a three-hour drive that ended at a bar an hour and a half in, a welcome-home balloon bought on the way back from the liquor store. It stops where his sponsor taught him to stop, on a telephone call from an old school friend, and four words: he was sober.
A study offered in the spirit of one alcoholic sharing experience, strength, and hope with another. Next week: pages nine through sixteen.
Read along at home — and if this series speaks to you, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out any time at wave@dailyripples.com.
Big Book study | Bill’s Story | Bill Wilson history | the physical and mental | powerlessness | belladonna treatment | Wall Street and the crash | recovery literature | experience strength and hope | addiction recovery
Disclaimer: This Wave Book Study is an independent recovery study offered free of charge as a teaching aid. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or approved by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. (A.A.W.S.). Passages read and discussed are drawn from the book Alcoholics Anonymous (“The Big Book”), © A.A.W.S., Inc., and are used here for educational and discussion purposes with attribution. This study is not a substitute for the Big Book itself — we’d encourage you to get your own copy and read it. A.A.W.S. has not reviewed or approved this content, and the views expressed are those of the host alone.