How I Beat Alcohol

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We wanted to make you aware of  CBS’s new Hallmark Hall of Fame Presentation about Lois Wilson, the co-founder of Al-Anon, entitled WHEN LOVE IS NOT ENOUGH: THE LOIS WILSON STORY.  We felt the content of the movie may be relevant and of interest to visitors to your site, and we encourage you to post information to help encourage viewership.

The movie, starring Golden Globe Award winner and two-time Academy Award nominee Winona Ryder (“The Age of Innocence,” “Little Women,” “Star Trek”) and Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award nominee Barry Pepper (“61*,” “Seven Pounds,” “Flags of Our Fathers”), is based on the biography of Lois Wilson by William G. Borchert, and will be broadcast Sunday, April 25 (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.  Spanning more than 30 years, this movie is based on the true story of the enduring but troubled love between Lois Wilson (Ryder), co-founder of Al-Anon, and her alcoholic husband Bill Wilson (Pepper), co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Below is further information about the movie.  Photography and a promotional clip are also available to post on your site upon request.

A college-educated young woman from an affluent family, Lois Burnham spent her winters in New York and summers in Vermont, where she began her deliriously happy courtship with Bill Wilson, a slightly younger man of modest means.   She married Bill in 1918, and, after his return from duty at the end of WWI, the two set out to build a life together in New York City.  While Lois worked as an occupational therapist at Bellevue Hospital, Bill struggled to find his niche.  Lois strongly believed, however, that Bill was destined for greatness, and despite noticing an increase in his drinking habits, she showered him with love and support.  Eventually, Lois persuaded a friend’s husband to hire Bill at his financial firm.   By 1927, Bill was a lucrative securities analyst on Wall Street and the couple was living a luxurious lifestyle.  Despite Lois’ countless efforts to control his drinking, Bill’s addiction to alcohol spiraled further out of control until his job, their lifestyle and dreams were gone.

In 1935, after years of unsuccessfully struggling to cover for Bill and manage his disease, Lois finally saw him take control of his alcoholism; however, his sobriety was not the result of Lois’s help, rather it came through the support of a fellow recovering alcoholic, Dr. Bob Smith.  As Bill and Dr. Bob attained lasting sobriety and co-founded Alcoholics Anonymous, Lois began to question the value she had in her own marriage.  After devoting 17 years to healing her sick husband, Lois felt isolated and resentful that he was sober without her help.  Lois eventually discovered that she was not alone.  She slowly engaged the wives of the men in Bill’s program and came to realize that while Bill was addicted to alcohol, she was addicted to him – and that the family and friends of alcoholics are, in some ways, as sick as their loved ones.  Lois gained the necessary understanding needed to repair her fractured relationship and to help millions of others do the same.   She co-founded Al-Anon in 1951.

Winona Ryder achieved Academy Award nominations for her roles in “Little Women” and “Age of Innocence,” and, for the latter performance, also earned a Golden Globe Award.  She was recently seen in “The Private Lives of Pippa Lee” and “Star Trek.” Her additional feature film credits include “Girl, Interrupted,” in which she starred and served as Executive Producer, “Mermaids,” for which she earned a Golden Globe Award nomination, “The Crucible,” “The House of Spirits,” ”Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” “Night on Earth,” “Edward Scissorhands,” “Beetle Juice,” “Heathers,” “Reality Bites,” and “How to Make an American Quilt.”  She will next be seen in “Black Swan.”

Barry Pepper earned Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for his role as Major League Baseball’s star right fielder Roger Maris in the television movie “61.”  His feature film credits include “Seven Pounds,” “Flags of Our Fathers,” “Saving Private Ryan,” “The Green Mile,” “25th Hour,” “The Snow Walker,” The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada,” “Enemy of the State” and the upcoming film “Casino Jack,” starring opposite Kevin Spacey.

WHEN LOVE IS NOT ENOUGH:  THE LOIS WILSON STORY was produced by E1 Entertainment, in association with Hallmark Hall of Fame Productions.  John Morayniss (“Hung”), Ira Pincus (“Vinegar Hill”) and Brent Shields (“The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler”) are the executive producers; John Kent Harrison (“The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler”) is the director; William G. Borchert (“My Name Is Bill W”) and Camille Thomasson (“The Magic of Ordinary Days”) wrote the script based on the book THE LOIS WILSON STORY, When Love Is Not Enough by Borchert.  E1 Entertainment will handle international distribution, excluding the U.S.

My name is Bernadette and I want to tell you about how God has changed my life almost 6 years ago. I was born in a loving Eastern European family 60 years ago. My childhood was very good in spite of lack of money and growing up in a communist country. My parents were God loving people, honest and kind. Yet I always felt a bit insecure inside and being the “baby” in the family always craved attention. I was also a bit envious of my 3 older siblings that they had more freedom to stay up late and have friends over and I had to go to bed. So I wanted to grow up fast.

When I had my first alcoholic drink at the age of 14 I thought I found the answer to that problem and to all my problems it seemed. It took away my shyness, all my insecurities and made me feel free.So I chased that feeling for many many years. It did not get me too much trouble at the beginning, but looking back I started to display very alcoholic tendencies from early on: restless, irritable, and discontented when I did not get alcohol when I wanted; when I drank I was over the top grandiose and careless.

After I got married and had my children I realised that I did not have many living skills and even though I wanted to be a good mother and wife I started to rely on alcohol regularly more and more and it became my crutch to ease the pain of just barely coping with my responsibilities at home. I started to get drunk on a regular basis much to my husband’s disappointment.

I prayed to God that I could control my drinking, but I did not know that I was suffering from alcoholism and one drink is too many and hundred is not enough for an alcoholic. To save my marriage and my sanity I looked up AA in the phonebook in 1990 and went for my first AA meeting. It was an eye opener.For the first time I saw that there are other people like me feeling the same way and I am not alone feeling so horrible about myself and they way drank.

I stayed for awhile but after a long time when I d not go to meetings regularly my head started to tell me lies, maybe it is not so bad, maybe I am not an alcoholic after all, so I started drinking again and for several years I felt that loving connection with God started to almost disappear. I had no self respect left. His mercy stepped into my life on the night of the 23 October,  2003.. My loving creator and saviour gave me the gift of desperation.

Sober again he took away strong cravings from that moment onwards, so I never needed to pick up a drink since, and I am coming up to my 6th AA birthday in a few weeks. This was by far the biggest miracle in my life! I asked God’s help and He came and rescued me in my darkest hour. Since then my life is blissful and my heart is grateful. He gave my self respect back and my family’s respect. What a complete and amazing blessing. Thank you Lord, thank you God!

Bernadette B
Sydney, Australia

My first experience of the effects of alcohol was when I was in my mid teens – it made me feel suddenly relaxed and calm in body and mind.

I felt guilty because by alcoholic father was still alive then and I knew where alcohol could take me. I could see what alcohol had done to his health, personality and to our family. He eventually died from alcoholism.

I wondered in the early year how long alcohol would take to get hold of me. Almost immediately I started to think about booze when I was at work and how long till my next drink. People would say “Can’t you remember what you did and said last night” but often I could not “(blackouts).

I married and continued to drink every day and night to oblivion. My wife couldn’t understand how I could do this and perform my job as well. But I knew my job was getting less of me as the years passed by. Eventually my wife left me, taking our young daughter with her.

I reached my rock bottom some years later when I was diagnosed with severe cirrhosis and fatty liver, very high blood pressure, jaundice (yellow eyes) and red blotches all over my body. I was hospitalised and told when I was discharged that I had only 2 weeks to live if I continued to drink.

I decided to give sobriety “a go” but not to tell anybody. I knew this was my one and only chance. I can now say it was my higher power giving me the ‘gift of sobriety’ – the desire to drink was removed and I have not had a drink in nearly 13 years.

My first AA meeting came a few days later. I saw people who were really happy, friendly and well dressed. I must have fallen in love with AA from the start as I was attending 14 meetings per week in my early year of sobriety. With the help and love from my higher power I try to put the 12 steps of AA into my life.

My daughter is older now and is completing her university degree. She visits me regularly and we love to bushwalk in the Blue Mountains, attend Opera House Concerts, movies and go to the beach.

None of this would have been possible without my God’s gift of sobriety and the warmth and love I have been given from the members of AA

Peter from Sydney

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