RRP 113 — Kathryn L. / Is It Odd or Is It God?: Recovery, Spirituality, and the Long Road to PortlandRRP 113 — Kathryn L. / Is It Odd or Is It God?: Recovery, Spirituality, and the Long Road to Portland
Presenters:
Julie P. Lewis and Peter B. Dowell |
Episode Length:
Approximately 1 hour 47 minutes |
Release Date:
May 8, 2026
Kathryn L. grew up south of Boston in a home where alcohol was always present — a stocked liquor cabinet, homemade sambuca, and big parties that normalized drinking from an early age. By the time she hit her corporate career, she was a blackout drinker trying and failing to control something that was already controlling her. The death of her mother at 25, a tumultuous marriage, and a string of relationships driven more by loneliness than love — none of it stopped the drinking. What finally did was waking up on the bathroom floor on July 29, 2011, physically sick, emotionally sick, and spiritually sick.
What followed was a decade-long journey through AA in Boston — the AWOL women’s group, a home group of 200 people in Braintree, and a sponsor named Rita whose son had just died from the disease. Then a career pivot from six-figure sales work to cutting fruit at a deli. Then, in March 2022, an 11-day cross-country drive from Boston to Portland. Halfway across the country, she realized she had everything.
Now coming up on 15 years sober, Kathryn lives by one question: is it odd, or is it God?
Key Points
“I never want to forget what it was like waking up on the bathroom floor, physically sick, emotionally sick, and spiritually sick.” — Kathryn L.
Websites Discussed
- Sweet and Salty PDX Cookies
- 4D Recovery
- Real Recovery Podcast
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