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 your host, Gene McCarthy.

I write the blog Unpickled.

I've been telling my story there of life after alcohol since my very first day of sobriety almost exactly eight years ago in 2011.

I tell my story there, and I invite you to share your stories here.

And on the line today, all the way from Ireland is a gentleman by the name of Patrick,

who I met up with over Instagram.

His Instagram handle is Patchwork Recovery, and of course, since that's a hashtag that a lot of us

are following these days, as we learn about all the different ways that people are supporting

their life in alcohol-free and recovery living,

it was a definite fit to have Pat join us and talk about his experience

over the last year of sobriety on the bubble hour.

And I just noticed as I looked at my calendar, of course, we're into March already,

so how fitting that we should celebrate St. Patrick's Day with a guest from Ireland.

Pat, hello, and welcome to the bubble hour.

Hi, how are you?

I'm great. Thank you so much for being on the show. I really appreciate it.

Thanks for having me on.

Well, let's get to know you a little bit. Tell us about your story. And first of all, congratulations on your first sober verse three.

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