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

#RealRecovery #RecoveryPodcast #SoberLife #AARecovery #TwelveSteps #RecoveryIsPossible #Sobriety #IsItOddOrIsItGod #Portland #RecoveryCommunity @realrecoverypodcast Real Recovery Podcast Inc. — A 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Organization — EIN: 99-1347297