Editor’s Note: September is National Drug and Alcohol Addiction Recovery Month. To celebrate the success of treatment and recovery programs, and to inspire people struggling with substance abuse and addiction, a dozen Mainers agreed to share their personal stories. Today’s three profiles conclude the “Recovery Works” series. The weekly “Finding a Fix” column resumes Oct. 5.

“I woke up early Sunday morning on the floor of my office, with my forefinger wrapped around the handle of an empty jug of wine and absolutely no recollection of buying it,” G.G. Roberts said. “I have no clue where the idea came from, but somehow I pulled myself together, still very drunk, and I went to AA.”

It was her first contact with Alcoholics Anonymous, at a 12 Keys clubhouse in Leavittown, Pa. In the empty parking lot, as she waited for the building to open, a disheveled, unshaven man walked toward her car. “I looked at him and I thought, ‘Now there’s a real alcoholic.’ But he came right up to my window and bent down and said, ‘You never have to feel this way again.’ Turned out, he had eight years of sobriety and came to the parking lot every morning looking for people like me, to keep them company until the meeting started.”

That was back in February of 1978, and G.G., now 73 and living back in her hometown of Skowhegan, hasn’t touched alcohol since. Recently retired from a satisfying second career as a substance abuse counselor, she emphasized that virtually every user she has worked with has suffered from some kind of deep emotional pain, most often stemming from childhood trauma and pressures.

Family dysfunction comes in many forms, she said. “People can be addicted to religion, to their work and their ambition. A father who gets so angry at ball games, yelling at his kid for not being a better player – he’s setting that kid up.”