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RRP 122 — Jen L / When the Light Found Her, Part 1: From Bucking Hay to Finding Her People
• 73 minRRP 122 — Jen L / When the Light Found Her, Part 1body{font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#0F1123;background:#F2EAD5;max-width:720px;margin:0 auto;padding:24px;line-height:1.6}h1{font-size:1.5em;color:#771719;margin-bottom:4px}.meta{color:#3C82C1;font-size:.9em;margin-bottom:20px}.summary{margin-bottom:20px}.keypoints{list-style:none;padding:0}.keypoints li{margin-bottom:12px}.tc{display:inline-block;background:#0F1123;color:#fff;padding:2px 8px;border-radius:4px;font-size:.85em;font-weight:bold;margin-right:6px}blockquote{border-left:4px solid #F45331;margin:20px 0;padding:12px 20px;font-style:italic;color:#771719;font-size:1.1em}.attribution{font-style:normal;color:#0F1123;font-size:.9em;margin-top:4px}.websites{margin:20px 0}.websites a{color:#3C82C1}.cta{display:flex;gap:12px;margin:24px 0;flex-wrap:wrap}.cta a{background:#F45331;color:#fff;padding:10px 24px;border-radius:6px;text-decoration:none;font-weight:bold}.cta a.blog{background:#3C82C1}.cta a.news{background:#771719}.footer{margin-top:30px;padding-top:16px;border-top:2px solid #60C0EA;font-size:.8em;color:#0F1123}.hashtags{font-size:.85em;color:#3C82C1;margin-top:12px}RRP 122 — Jen L / When the Light Found Her, Part 1: From Bucking Hay to Finding Her PeoplePresenters: Julie P. Lewis and Peter B. Dowell • Length: 1:18:00 • Release: July 10, 2026 Jen L. grew up on a cattle ranch in Roseburg, Oregon, bucking hay and worming cows. She was a science nerd, a jock, and by 15, a blackout drinker buying liquor in small-town stores. By 17, she came out to her mom and left home in the middle of the night. In Part 1 of this two-part conversation, Jen traces the arc from a rural childhood full of secrets to the kitchen window where a 150-foot cross started shining through — and the recovery that began on the other side of it. 00:00 Jen arrives with a broken leg and ice on her foot — "If she can make it, you all can" — as Julie introduces the friend she's known since Lunch Bunch / Extended Family in August 199700:08 "I found my people" — the group conscience that keeps showing up, and the diversity that's grown over nearly three decades00:17 Growing up on the family cattle ranch: bucking hay, worming cows, and hiding from the bull named Caesar in a crabapple tree00:22 Costa Rican exchange student at 15: blackout drinking, discotheques, and Kahlua on the porch with fireflies00:25 Buying liquor at 15 in small-town stores; the party where Michelle got alcohol poisoning — and making amends years later in a Fred Meyer aisle00:31 Coming out at 17, leaving home in the middle of the night, and Auntie Bev: "We love your friend, and she's welcome here any time"00:35 The Chemeketa paramedic program; Embers at 16; and Corey's recovery coin in a cigar box by the river00:39 Kathy's basement ultimatum: "I'm not gonna sit around and watch you kill yourself" — the moment that sent Jen to treatment00:43 The 150-foot Grotto cross shining through her kitchen; Gregorian chants drifting into her yard; her first sober house00:47 First AA meeting: the smoking meeting at the Grotto, the priest who ignored her, and the room of people she didn't believe00:49 James at the gay meeting: "Will I see you tomorrow?" — five words that kept both Jen and Julie coming back00:53 Sixty days sober, furious, "coming around those corners hot" — the parking spot at the rock shop that changed everything00:56 Julie's Friday meltdown that brought Tammy into the meeting — the woman who became Jen's sponsor for 26 years01:01 Tammy's story; the Linda Neely connection; and "Two years ago on Wednesday, Tammy died"01:10 Driving Fred to Yreka for his amends; finding an AA meeting through the Yellow Pages on a payphone01:15 "Once the drugs and alcohol got set down, I was still left with the obsession" — replacing substances with more01:17 Dad dying of cancer at 18 months sober; the whiskey waved in her face — and the family she never told"We'd moved into a different house, and it was finally a house I hadn't used in. That's just what I wanted — a house I hadn't used in."— Jen L. Websites Discussed:The Grotto •Chemeketa Community College •East County Alano Club •Alcoholics Anonymous •Real Recovery Podcast ▶ Listen✎ Read the Blog✉ Newsletter #RealRecoveryPodcast, #RecoveryIsPossible, #AddictionRecovery, #SoberLife, #LGBTQRecovery, #AA, #TwelveSteps, @realrecoverypodcast The Real Recovery Podcast is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. EIN: 99-1347297.
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