This is my baggage… the chaos I lived through, the chaos I caused, and the fallout that shaped me.

I didn’t put this episode on hold, because it’s time. Time to reclaim my voice, take back the narrative, and drop the shame once and for all. This story is mine now.

Byron sits with me as I unpack the decisions I made early in my marriage, the bridges I burned, the secrets I kept, the money I borrowed, the shame I carried, and the life that detonated around me when everything went wrong at once.

We talk about the guilt, the survival instincts, the desperation, and the emotional math you do when you’re trying to hold up a collapsing world with both hands. We talk about the consequences — the friendships lost, the reputation destroyed, the betrayal from others, and the long, slow process of rebuilding a life you barely recognize.

It’s raw, honest, painful, and threaded with the dark humor that’s kept me alive. This is not the pretty version. This is not the PR version. This is the real story — unfiltered, unedited, and finally, mine to tell.

“This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional advice, and it does not constitute legal, financial, or medical advice. Always seek the advice of a qualified professional regarding your specific situation.”

Now Boarding: Everyone dragged through addiction without the frequent flyer miles

NO NAMES HERE PLEASE! We are calling out BEHAVIORS NOT HUMANS!!

In Episode Four, my separation lawyer breaks down the legal side of loving an addict, the part nobody tells you until you are in an office hearing, “Yes, you would be liable if he crashed a car high.” Marc explains what the law looks like when addiction enters a relationship: the risks, the exposure, the fine print, and the questions every spouse needs to ask before the next crisis. It is blunt, eye opening, darkly funny, and essential listening for anyone who has wondered, “Am I legally on the hook for their chaos?”

“This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional advice, and it does not constitute legal, financial, or medical advice. Always seek the advice of a qualified professional regarding your specific situation.”

Now Boarding: Everyone dragged through addiction without the frequent flyer miles

NO NAMES HERE PLEASE! We are calling out BEHAVIORS NOT HUMANS!!

In Episode Three, we sit down with a woman still in the trenches, married to an addict, raising kids, paying bills, and stepping around emotional landmines every day. BethAnn’s story is not polished or past tense. It is happening right now.We talk about surviving love when it is complicated, holding a family together with duct tape, and why being called “so strong” feels more insulting than inspiring. We go behind the Instagram version of holding it together, because nothing says “I am fine” like crying in the car between errands. This is the wife’s side of addiction.

“This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional advice, and it does not constitute legal, financial, or medical advice. Always seek the advice of a qualified professional regarding your specific situation.”

Now Boarding: Everyone dragged through addiction without the frequent flyer miles

NO NAMES HERE PLEASE! We are calling out BEHAVIORS NOT HUMANS!!

In Episode Two, we bring in Dr. Audrey, the therapist who specializes in addiction, families, and the emotional triage required when you love someone living in a tornado. She breaks down why addiction turns every family member into an unwilling first responder, why we tolerate the intolerable, and why “just leave” is the most useless advice imaginable. With equal parts clinical truth and dark humor, Dr. Audrey explains the patterns, the denial, the chaos cycles, and what it takes to rebuild a sense of self when you have been living inside someone else’s hurricane.

“This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional advice, and it does not constitute legal, financial, or medical advice. Always seek the advice of a qualified professional regarding your specific situation.”

Now Boarding: Everyone dragged through addiction without the frequent flyer miles

NO NAMES HERE PLEASE! We are calling out BEHAVIORS NOT HUMANS!!

Welcome to Episode One, where we unzip the first bag and immediately wish we had not. This is ground zero, the messy, complicated, darkly hilarious beginning of Not My Baggage. We go back to the marriage, the mayhem, the spectacular mistakes, and the moment I realized loving an addict had turned my life into a full-time crisis management job with no salary, no benefits, and no training. This is the unfiltered origin story of why this podcast exists, who it is for, and why it is finally time to unpack the chaos out loud.

This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional advice, and it does not constitute legal, financial, or medical advice. Always seek the advice of a qualified professional regarding your specific situation.