Nichol's Story

The Bubble Hour

Health & Fitness, Mental Health

4.7 • 560 Ratings

🗓️ 18 January 2021

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As a little girl, Nichol was not protected the way a child should be. The abuse she suffered left emotional wounds that she kept hidden from the world. Through her teens and adult years, she leaned on alcohol to cope and, despite a strong work ethic and deep love for her daughters, dependency unfolded. Her pattern was unpredictable and she suffered frightening blackouts frequently. Then came an experience that changed everything. Nichol woke up one morning caked in blood and did not recognize the disfigured face in the mirror. A drunken fall the night before nearly ended her life, but she summoned her strength to use the experience as a catalyst for change. Nichol recently celebrate her 50th birthday and a 3-year milestone of sobriety. She shares her story in hopes of taking away some of the stigma and shame others might feel who have been through similar experiences. For links to resources mentioned in this episode, click here: https://jeanmccarthy.ca/2021/01/18/the-bubble-hour-s9e3-nichols-story/ * Host Jean McCarthy's blog is UnPickledBlog.com and her latest books are at www.jeanmccarthy.ca/books

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.
0:41.5	I'm Gene McCarthy, recovery author, blogger, and podcast host.
0:45.8	I've been chronicling my adventures in life after alcohol since my first day of sobriety 10 years ago in my blog Unpickled and in the books I write. So I tell my stories there
0:57.9	and I hold space for your stories here. Today I'm holding space for Nicole. Hi Nicole. Welcome to
1:05.0	the bubble hour. Hi Gene. Thank you for having me. It's an honor and a pleasure to be here today. Hi, I'm glad that you're here.
1:14.7	Yeah. We connected through some online groups and I know that you've had an eventful recovery and you're
1:24.6	going to share some of that with us today. So thank you for being here. I will turn the
1:29.4	mic over to you and ask you to tell us your story. Okay. Well, thank you so much, Gene. I want to
1:37.1	say thank you so very much for allowing me to hold space to share my story. I want to share my story in hopes that it
1:48.5	helps someone out there. And I want women to know that you're not alone. In recovery, at the age
1:59.4	I am now, which is 50, in society, it seems to be getting better
2:04.1	as far as shame and being vulnerable in sharing things like this. So I really am inspired to let
2:13.7	women know that, that you're not alone and that everything is going to be okay.
2:19.0	So I thank you very, very much, Jean, for what you do. And I'd like to say thank you to
2:25.9	She Recovers, which is an amazing online group where I shared my story and was able to
2:33.2	connect with you there and in sharing my story.
2:37.0	So I am forever grateful for those online groups like that, that allow women in my situation and in recovery do so.
2:47.6	As I stated, I am 50 years old, just turned 50 a few months ago, and I have been sober
2:57.3	since October 6th of 2017. I live in northern Wisconsin, and I am married for 29 years, recently separated as in the last
	...

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