Lilian and Murdoch MacDonald met and fell in love. It was a second marriage for both and they had high hopes for their future together but there was a major obstacle to their happiness - their chronic abuse of alcohol. When doctors and even their families gave up on them, Lilian and Murdoch left Scotland to try to start a new life in Cambridge where Murdoch had studied years before for an honours degree. The idea was that Murdoch would study for a Ph.D. and he and Lilian would set up home in the town.

Things quickly spiralled out of control. The couple were thrown out of their rented accommodation for drinking, left with nothing but the clothes they stood up in. What little money they had was soon spent on hotel rooms and large quantities of drink. Finally, Lilian and Murdoch were living on the streets, sleeping in parks, and begging drinks off other homeless people. They tried AA, as they had previously in Scotland, but found the organisation to be dogmatic and judgemental. However no one took them seriously when they said they wanted to recover but without attending AA.

Lilian's health was deteriorating fast and Murdoch took her to hospital. There she was dismissed as just another alcoholic and told the only treatment for her health problems was to stop drinking. There was no attempt to find out what was really wrong with her and certainly no sympathy. There was to be no bed in the hospital for Lilian that night.

Sitting together freezing on a bench the couple was approached by two young women on their way home from a night out. The young women turned out to be nurses and they pooled what was left of their money to buy Lilian and Murdoch tea and a burger to share between them. They also said they would help the couple find accommodation so that they could get out of the streets and parks at night.

This was a turning point for Lilian and Murdoch. Their accommodation in a hostel was basic but it gave them the stability they needed to sort their lives out. Murdoch got a job selling newspapers on a street corner and Lilian helped him out by bringing him lunch and letting him away for comfort breaks.

After another try at the AA way of life, Lilian and Murdoch decided it really wasn't helping them with their problems. They decided to find their own way through by examining their lives to find out why they started drinking to excess in the first place. For Lilian, it went back to her childhood and the cold, judgemental treatment she received from her mother. Identifying the source of her troubles led to what Lilian believes was a cure for her alcoholism and an eating problem.

Lilian and Murdoch are now living in Scotland again, sober, with Murdoch running a successful PR company. Perhaps the most astonishing part of this couple's story is that they now drink alcohol socially with no descent back into the mire of alcoholism. Their cure may seem remarkable, and to AA adherents self-deluding, but Lilian and Murdoch are not unique. As far back as 1964, American Dr. Arthur H. Cain, reported in the Saturday Evening Post that he too had known of alcoholics who had been cured and could now drink without fear of relapse. Dr. Cain blamed AA for blocking the progress of research into the causes of alcoholism and the search for a cure. He felt that its dogmatic approach that brooked no dissent merely treated the symptoms - abuse of alcohol - rather than looking deeper for the cause.

Lilian and Murdoch heartily agree seeing AA as a damage limitation exercise rather than as a means to a cure. Their story is moving and one can only wish them luck.

Shirley Whiteside is a Glasgow-based freelance writer who has contributed to The Herald, Herald Magazine, The List and the Scottish Daily Mail. She has also worked as a film/tv publicist on a variety of projects including Orphans, Mrs Brown, The Crow Road, Cardiac Arrest, Takin' Over The Asylum, Small Faces, Ex-S and Bookmark. She is currently working on short screenplays and short stories.

© 2005 Laura Hird All rights reserved.