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 nearly 10 years ago on my blog Unpickled

and in books like the unppickled Holiday Survival Guide

and my poetry collection, The Ember Ever There. I tell my stories there and I hold space for your

stories here. Today I'm holding space for Matt Salis. Matt is the executive director of stigma,

which runs Shout Sobriety and echoes of recovery programs

for people in recovery and their families. Together with his wife, Sherry, Matt wrote the book,

Sober Evolution, which talks about recovery and marriage. So Matt joins us today to share his

story and talk about his projects. Hi, Matt.

Welcome to the bubble hour. Well, thanks for having me, Gene. I appreciate being here.

I'm glad you're here. I've enjoyed reading your book and hearing your story. It's always inspiring

to talk with other people that are just passionate about helping people find their way and sharing their

message. So I'm glad you're here today. Tell us about yourself. Tell us your story.

I'd love to. Let me start by congratulating you on 10 years of not just sobriety, but of inspiration.

It's just great to hear your voice, you know, live directly one-to-one.

And I've heard it so many times in the past. And I'm so appreciative for all that you do.

Oh, thank you. Thank you. I don't know how I'm going to celebrate, but you just had a sober

versory. Did you do anything special to celebrate yours?

No, you know, I'm not a day counter. So I'm at four years, but I'm not, I actually don't know exactly when mine is. It was in January, or it is in January, but I'm not sure exactly,

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