I own it, I did that, not proud, but that was me, and when I face it, I take back a little dignity, not looking for excuses, I just want to be free from power.

Weakness had on me.

Free, free, free, free, free.

Hi, everyone, and welcome to the bubble hour where real people tell real stories of addiction and recovery.

I'm Gene McCarthy, recovery author, blogger, and podcast host.

I've been chronicling my adventures in life after alcohol since my first day of sobriety over nine years ago in my blog Unpickled and in books like the Unpickled Holiday Survival Guide

and my poetry collection, The Ember Ever There.

I tell my stories there and I hold space for your stories here.

And today I'm holding space for a friend of mine named Kathy.

Hi, Kathy.

Welcome to the bubble hour.

Hi, Jean. It's so wonderful to be with you.

I'm happy you're here. We're far away friends. We live across, well, across the country and across the border from each other. So it's a long way between us. It's a treat to hear your voice.

Yeah. So always wonderful to hear your voice.

Of course, I know your voice much better than you know mine. I'm in your ears. Well, thanks for taking

the time to be here today. And I asked you to come and tell your story and you were kind enough to do that.

So I'm going to turn the mic over to you, Kathy. Tell us about yourself and tell us your story.

Thank you, Jean. It really is my pleasure. So I'm a 66-year-old woman who enjoys traveling and playing

tennis and I like to ski out west,

which you also share a love of in the winter.

And I also enjoy gardening and cooking healthy food.

I worked as a physical therapist, but am now retired. I have been twice widowed and did not have children.

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