Tonight's special guest is Regla_girl from San Diego, a survivor of child abuse and a returning NAASCA family member. Regla_girl and both her siblings were victims of ritualistic sexual abuse perpetrated by women in the family, one of them her mother. Her community was basically Irish Catholic. She thinks it started with her Aunt Lori when Regla_girl during a visit to her grandmother's home when she was about 5 or 6. There had been violence in the family long before that. Among other things, Regla_girl naturally turned to drinking and using drugs. Tonight she'll be talking about her using a 12 Step process for her personal recovery. As she hid herself and stuffed her feelings she toughened up and became a comedic bully, climbing the social ladder at other people's expense. The alcohol use, her solution, was a big problem by the time she was 18 years old. Relationship issues made her get serious about healing and recovery. And in spite of having a good career she found herself struggling with just being okay. Her eating disorders were severe in her adulthood. She got up to almost 400 lbs and down to 125. Regla_girl recalls reading the Big Book, confused and still drinking, but inside of her began a question about God, and the existence of God. She understood that the spiritual experience was the thing that could save an alcoholic. Even while still drinking, she began to get honest with God. Little miracles were happening. She heard God say "I love you," and she began a 15 year period of being clean and sober. “Never give up,” she says. “And remember it's all about having a relationship with a loving God.” She concludes, “Just keep praying.”