Episode 35: Coffee with Cope

This past Saturday, I had the pleasure to start my day with a cup of coffee and a chat with an AA friend, Cope C. from the Many Paths group in Urbana, Illinois. Cope does a lot of work here at AA Beyond Belief, helping with design and many of the images that we use in the articles that have been published here. Currently, she is working on a project that we call “Beyond Words”, a gallery that will display original photography that you create and submit to AA Beyond Belief. We have so much talent in our community and Cope believes, and I agree that there are many ways to share our stories, beyond words.

Cope originally told her story in an article we published here titled Outsiders AnonymousIn that story, Cope talks about the difficulty she had with the religiosity of AA, but eventually she went through the Steps and read and studied the Big Book. It was interesting to talk to her about this during the podcast. Cope mentioned that she “wanted to do it the right way.” She got a sponsor and went to work.

Though, she was sober for ten  years before attending AA meetings, Cope realized that she had problems that were masked by her drinking and she had a sense that the Steps would help her with that. She may not have relied on AA to stop drinking, but she has certainly relied on it to stay stopped, and it was very clear to me that she is someone who takes her recovery very seriously. She has come a long way and she is using her experience to help others.

So, pull up a chair, and grab a cup of coffee with Cope.