RRP 138 — Check-In / They're All Miracles, and a Lot of Gratitude

A canopy, a sign, and a year of stories we're still grateful for.

It's almost the middle of October. Peter caught himself telling someone the date and realized the month is already half over. The holidays are right around the corner, our harvest party is coming up, and the Freedom Awards are the night before. Neither of us feels ready. Peter even needed new slacks because his old ones fit two of him. He's lost weight since his cancer treatment, and he's looking at the positives. "That's what got me through and keeps me going."

We look back at the guests since our last check-in. Sonny, Cade, Devlin, and Cassandra brought in a younger crowd, and they're all social media people, so we saw our stuff go up. Brad shared words of wisdom from his long time in the program. Then Walter Bailey came on, and Julie got her first real sports guest. Julie says Brad and Walter were two different souls with the same message.

Julie was talking about everyone who has come on the show.

The GTD 5K was a highlight. We had a canopy this time, and Julie has been corrected four times on calling it a tarp. We also had our sign at a public event for the first time, and Julie took a lot of pictures of people standing next to it. Family showed up for us, including Jen, who brought people from Bend. Julie was amazed to find out that Walter and Quentin knew each other. Quentin told her Walter had been his mentor.

Peter talks about the groups at Another Chance, where he's working on a study. People from all over, with nothing in common except addiction, go through the program together and come out like brothers and sisters. We get that same bond at meetings and in our home groups.

Julie calls Dina Valdez's speech at Transcending Hope the best speech ever. She asked everyone to close their eyes, walked them through her journey, and then said, "Open your eyes." Peter came away thinking we need to spotlight more of the groups in our community, not just the big ones. Julie also gave a shout-out to the Peer company, who rappelled down a building and raised over $100,000.

The Freedom Awards mean a lot to Julie. It was the first recovery event she ever attended, and she cried for an hour watching Izzy get the award. She also learned something new at the Basic Rights Oregon event, that some families come to Oregon because their kids can't get medical care in other states. Peter spent four nights camping at Devil's Lake for Justin's birthday, with chowder at Mo's and a drive on the beach in his truck.

Holidays can be hard in recovery, so we're pointing listeners to places that stay open. True Colors is opening its doors on Christmas Eve, Another Chance is open 24/7 through the holidays, and the East County Alano Club is open 24 hours on the holidays. The Alano Club in Portland is another option. If you have a free Monday afternoon, the AA Intergroup hotline needs a volunteer.

Our three goals were a canopy, a sign, and paying for the newsletter's publishing, and we reached all three. Support has grown from a handful of supporters to some big ones, and Peter was able to hand off costs he'd been paying out of pocket. Austin from Sobriety Talks helped get us into the top 20 recovery podcasts, and if you want to help us climb, there's a blue vote box on our website. If you have a Fred Meyer rewards card, you can link it to us through Community Rewards at no cost to you. Julie's wish for the year ahead is our first fundraiser. We'll also be dark on the Fridays of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's so we can be with our families.

Thank you for listening, and thank you for being part of this family. If you're a newer listener, go back through our back catalog.

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