In this special episode of Voices of Recovery, we continue our August series, “Our Predecessors”, with the remarkable story of Fern—a woman who has devoted more than four decades of her life to Narcotics Anonymous in selfless service.Growing up in a Jewish household where alcohol was always on the table, Fern discovered early on that she loved the feeling it gave her—and she always wanted more. That desire grew into a disease that took her deeper into drugs, woven into the counterculture spirit of the 1960s and 70s. Couch surfing, restless, and dreaming of stability, Fern’s life became a battle between her spirit for freedom and the chains of addiction.Her using strained her family and broke her ability to show up as a mother, until one Christmas in 1983. Kicked out of yet another family gathering, lost in her disease, she stumbled back into the rooms of Narcotics Anonymous. Her predecessors had kept a seat open for her, and one night, she finally took a suggestion—she picked up the phone and called someone. That single act of surrender became the first true page in her recovery story.From that day forward, Fern never turned back. She became part of the early fabric of Narcotics Anonymous in New York, helping to build meetings where none existed and laying the groundwork for a fellowship that now thrives with hundreds of meetings. Her devotion to service—whether in person, online, or carrying the message into jails—has touched countless lives. Always thinking of the newcomer, Fern has made it her mission to plant seeds of hope in hearts and minds that desperately need it.As a sponsor, a sponsee, and a servant of the NA fellowship, Fern has shown what is possible when one woman surrenders to a program, works the steps, and lives a life in selfless dedication. For over 41 years, she has walked the path of recovery one day at a time, proving that even the darkest beginnings can give way to a new way of life—lit hope, guided by service, with the promise of freedom every step of the way.

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