Cassandra P. grew up in the best possible version of a recovery household. Her mom, co-host Julie, got sober cold turkey while pregnant and never looked back. Cassandra attended AA meetings from age five, knew Julie’s sponsors by name, and never once saw either of her parents high. She was the sports girl — basketball, softball, water polo, Girl Scouts for ten years straight. And at 32, she still ended up in addiction. In Part 1, Cassandra and Julie trace the arc from a genuinely blessed childhood through the slow drift that loving structure couldn’t prevent forever.

• 00:05:00 Julie shares how Cassandra came into the world — Michael in prison, a doctor’s ultimatum, and quitting drugs cold turkey with no recovery plan.
• 00:12:00 Julie pays two months’ rent with the abortion money her mother gave her, stays clean throughout pregnancy, and graduates college — Cassandra in tow.
• 00:16:00 Cassandra on growing up “blessed” — AA was the norm, and she had a front-row seat to what recovery actually looks like from the inside.
• 00:35:00 Michael’s last basketball game: Cassandra hits three three-pointers, he’s screaming from the stands — the last time they see him before his death from a drug overdose.
• 00:48:00 Community college, a lost identity, and the first time Cassandra ever smoked weed — watching Friday on a Friday with her friend Travis.
• 00:57:00 The party years: close calls with police while drunk, and passing a field sobriety test she had no business passing.
• 01:08:00 The job that broke her, the three-month break that removed every guardrail, and a boyfriend whose money came easy.
• 01:28:00 Why Cassandra avoided Julie during her active addiction — and what it cost both of them.
• 01:32:00 Six months behind on the mortgage, cocaine and alcohol to cope, and the moment she signed up for Another Chance treatment — May 2024.

• Another Chance — Portland, OR treatment center
• Real Recovery Podcast