Presenters: Julie P. Lewis and Peter B. Dowell
Episode length: 01:12:04
Release date: Friday, September 18, 2026
Originally recorded: August 23, 2024, as Episode 26

This revisited original conversation takes listeners back to the beginning of Elton F.'s recovery story. Before her current-day update, before family and service work, she was living in a California storage unit and struggling to find a way into treatment. Elton speaks plainly about what addiction took from her, the family who would not stop loving her, and the hard little decisions that finally made room for recovery.

Content note: This episode includes references to meth use, withdrawal, and needles.

• Elton describes how early use grew from wanting to fit in, then accelerated after she began using meth.
• In California, she was homeless and living in a storage unit with no running water or safe place to rest.
• A detox bed opened, but Elton still planned to hide drugs in her car for later.
• During a call from detox, her mother calmly talked about everyday life at home. Elton later learned her mom collapsed after the call.
• Back in Vancouver, Elton's family intervened. After a moment of stillness, she handed her dad the bag she could not let go of.
• In treatment, Elton called her mom and asked her to remove needles she had hidden under her bed.
• She found a sponsor and community at the Alano Club of Portland, then eventually found her way to 4D Recovery.

• 4D Recovery
• Alano Club of Portland
• Real Recovery Podcast

Listen: https://mdcr1.com/132
Blog: https://mdcr1.com/132b

“I did it for them. I stayed for myself”
— Elton F.

#RealRecoveryPodcast, #Recovery, #Sobriety, #4DRecovery, #RecoveryCommunity, @realrecoverypodcast