Leslie's Story

The Bubble Hour

Health & Fitness, Mental Health

4.7 • 560 Ratings

🗓️ 21 April 2020

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Leslie's growing reliance on alcohol was her main way to cope with the overwhelming emotions of having a son struggling with a drug addiction. His tragic death made it even harder to have clarity around her own relationship with alcohol, as she experienced grief along with guilt and shame. Now 18 months alcohol free, Leslie looks back on these difficult times and shares how sobriety has allowed her to find greater healing and a deeper connection to her son's memory. Resources discuss in this episode include The Unruffled Podcast and SheRecovers Meetups and Sharing Circles. Follow host Jean McCarty's blog UnPickled here and watch for news of her latest book releases here

Transcript

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0:00.0	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.
0:22.9	Weakness had on me.
0:25.4	Free, free, free, free, free.
0:32.1	Hi, everyone, and welcome to the bubble hour where real people tell real stories of addiction and recovery.
0:42.0	I'm Gene McCarthy. I write the blog Unpickled where I've been telling my story of life after alcohol since my first day of sobriety in 2011.
0:50.8	I tell my story there and I invite you to share your stories here. Well, about 13 months ago, I was
0:59.0	sitting in Starbucks at the local grocery store doing what I do every Wednesday when we're not on
1:05.8	pandemic lockdown, and that is drinking coffee, reading the paper or catching up on emails while I wait for my
1:12.6	mom to do her grocery shopping. I take her to the store once a week and she gets her groceries
1:19.3	and she likes to do it by herself. She doesn't want me to help her because it's her time. And I have a
1:25.2	lovely coffee and then when she's done, we go for a little lunch. That's our weekly Wednesday and I have a lovely coffee and then when she's done we go for a little lunch. That's our weekly
1:30.2	Wednesday and I miss it very much. My mom is in a senior's home and is not able to have anyone
1:36.8	in or out of her building and she can't leave her apartment. So sometimes we go and stand under
1:42.2	her balcony and we're able to visit with her off the balcony.
1:45.4	I put her picture on my Instagram page not that long ago of doing just that.
1:50.4	Before we meet our guests, let me tell you a little story.
1:52.7	My mom and my sister thought that it would be great if mom had a bucket that she could
1:56.5	lower off of her balcony so that when the grandchildren came to visit her, they could leave her
2:01.9	little note cards and pictures in it and she could pull it up. Well, it turns out that is very much
2:06.8	against the rules, and we can all understand why, because, you know, that would be a potential
2:11.6	contamination of the space that they're trying very hard to keep clean and safe for them. So
2:16.3	mom and my sister got in a
	...

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