Episode Details

From Scotch and Crotchless Panties to 5,944 Days Sober – Linnie’s Story

In this deeply honest and often funny share, Linnie takes us through a lifetime of addiction, chaos, and recovery. Growing up amid alcoholism and family turbulence, she moves from Catholic boarding school to New York burger joints, Manhattan nightlife, iron work on Hudson River bridges, and high-pressure sales—with alcohol and drugs woven through every chapter.

Linnie talks about:

• Discovering hard liquor as a teenager and falling in love with the chaos
• Working in Manhattan and blowing her cash on cocaine
• Reinventing herself as an iron worker and then a high-earning salesperson
• Moving to Florida, tending bar, managing a lingerie shop, and living for after-hours clubs
• Hitting bottom with health scares, DUIs, jail, and a marriage born out of grief
• Finding AA, getting 8 years sober, relapsing, and then coming back
• Getting pregnant at 35, raising her son in recovery, and navigating sponsors, home groups, and traditions
• Staying sober through the pandemic, wrestling with Zoom vs in-person meetings, and what long-term sobriety looks like today

With raw honesty, sharp humor, and zero sugarcoating, Linnie shows how a “garden variety drunk” can build a life in recovery—and why staying connected to other alcoholics is still the key after thousands of sober days.

Recorded on 6/26/2024

Speaker : Linnie Z