Embracing Sobriety: Melissa's Journey

Melissa calls herself a Mom, wife and most recently a proud sober New Yorker.  The Covid 19 pandemic led to a perfect storm of life issues, loss and ultimately over-drinking.  After a visit to her doctor, she was forced to look at her habits, which ultimately led to making "drastic behavioral changes".  She grew to accept the fact that she was and never will be a moderate drinker. She decided once and for all to remove alcohol from her life and start living in the most authentic way possible.  Nearly a year later her life has improved exponentially and today she is a fierce advocate of living a life FREE of alcohol.  This is her story.

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Transcript

Speaker 2: 0:10

Welcome to Ella Go. My name is Lisa. Join me on the journey in having real raw and uncomfortable discussions about fitness, health and everything in between, because, let's be honest, this journey would suck if we don't get our shit together. Hey, everyone, I just wanted to give you a warning that in this episode, we will be having a very candid discussion about alcoholism, so if you think that this might trigger you in any way or you think it will negatively impact the way you feel about yourself or others, I would suggest to stop listening and wait for next week's new episode. Welcome back to the Elegoo podcast. My name is Lisa, I am your host and today's guest is Melissa McGovern. Welcome.

Speaker 1: 1:10

Melissa. Thanks, lisa, it's so nice to be here. Thank you for having me.

Speaker 2: 1:15

So Melissa has well, first of all, your Instagram page tells a story and at first, when I look at a couple of the posts, I'm like what's going on, what's happening? And then it talks about your sober journey. So, before we get into that, where are you calling from? Maybe give the listeners a little introduction of who you are.

Speaker 1: 1:45

Sure, I am calling from New York City, right in Manhattan, where I have lived for the last almost 29 years. It will be that I've lived here and I am a mom and a wife and a daughter and a sister and a proud New Yorker and now a proud alcohol-free sober New Yorker.

Speaker 2: 2:10

Wow, that's amazing. Let's talk about that journey. And you know, first of all, the question always is you know when did you start drinking? Did something happen? You know how did that happen?

Speaker 1: 2:25

I started drinking when I was probably 14, 15 years old. I grew up in the state of Wisconsin, lovely, beautiful state, also very well known for a drinking culture, and, yeah, there are more bars per capita than anywhere else in the country, I believe in the state of Wisconsin. Wow, not that I was going to them as a 14 and 15-year-old, but we did have. I grew up in a small town and I had friends with basements and dad's refrigerator full of beer and it was boring and it was boring. So that's what we did and, like a lot of kids do, right, and it didn't affect me, it didn't affect my grades, it didn't affect my.

Speaker 1: 3:19

I was still very active in sports and theater and things like that and it wasn't much of an issue as a teenager. I did get in trouble, I did get caught and there were consequences and looking back, it was like it was probably not the best thing for me to start doing. Yeah, and in college I went to a state school in Wisconsin and that's when the bar culture picked up a little more for me and I was a theater major, so we had amazing parties and theater. People can really drink and have fun with themed parties and it was a great time and it wasn't ever anything that I would consider that I had a problem with.

Speaker 2: 4:04

So when did you get the sense that, hey, I have a problem. Or did someone come up to you Like, when did that all go down? Because I think that you know just from knowing friends that had this journey. They're thinking I'm living La Vida Loca, I'm having fun, Until someone says to them you're an alcoholic, and they're thinking I'm living la vida loca, I'm having fun, Until someone says to them you're an alcoholic, and they're like no, you know. So for you, what did that look like?

Speaker 1: 4:32

Well, that never happened to. No one ever came out of their way and said they believed I had a problem and I never admitted to myself that I had a problem until really like the few months before I quit, in my head there was a little voice for the past eight years or so when the wine drinking started ramping up. I'm not done at one. No moderation within my drinking abilities. It was open a bottle, the bottle's gone and I'm a tall woman and I seem to handle it fine. I didn't have any external consequences to handle it fine. I didn't have any external consequences. So I thought it was normal A lot of people do.

Speaker 1: 5:32

And it wasn't until about 2016, 2017, I had a doctor's appointment and my liver enzymes were elevated slightly. That number is usually between 5 and 40. There are two different numbers and I think mine were in the 70 to 80 range, which is double what they should be. And so my doctor said quit drinking for three weeks and come back and we'll retest your blood. And I remember it vividly because that three weeks happened over Labor Day weekend, which is always like a big party weekend. We have a place upstate and we were seeing friends and in my head I thought, oh my God, three weeks, and that's a sign. If you're telling yourself that it's going to be hard for you to not drink for three weeks, that's a little voice in your head. So I was paying attention to that and, sure enough, after three weeks I felt amazing. I was sleeping better, I lost a few pounds, I went in, my blood work was totally back to normal just after three weeks.

Speaker 1: 6:40

And through the years I always tried to moderate. I always tried to wrap my head around being that kind of drinker, someone that could just have one or two drinks. And it just wasn't me. It never was. My husband could open a bottle of wine, have a glass and leave the bottle on the counter for two weeks and not have any more. Like I said, if I opened a bottle, I wasn't going to put a cork stopper on it. Those cute little cork stoppers that you see were obsolete in my house.

Speaker 2: 7:20

Wow. So you know, what I love about this is that you have such a keen awareness to yourself and so you're thinking you had that health, almost like a health scare, right, and you're going to say, you know, I'm going to see if I can lower those enzyme levels. And then you felt good during that those couple of days.

Speaker 2: 7:49

And so here you are, trying to make that moderation and trying to be that moderate drinker. So what happened next? Like you're saying that it's it wasn't working, you weren't that type of person. So how did you become that type of person?

Speaker 1: 8:05

Yeah, Feeling good, taking a break and then trying to moderate and being successful at it until you're not until it ramps up again, and it was right before the pandemic in November of 2019. In November of 2019, while it was that year in particular, I started to pay attention to different books and podcasts and I heard One Year no Beer is a UK group you may have heard of them and Andy Ramage was on the Rich Roll podcast. Podcasts weren't as popular as they are now and I listened to this and he had a book out 28 Days to Quit Alcohol the 28 Day Challenge and I got that book and I tried at least a few times to do that. I would get six or seven days, I would get a couple weeks and by November of 2019, I woke up one day and I was just sick of my own shit and I looked like garbage. I took a picture of myself which I never, ever did in that state and I said that this is it Something's got to give. And I said that this is it Something's got to give, and so I leaned into that program. I got daily videos and emails. There was a Facebook group that I followed and I had that, but I was also white knuckling it. I didn't know any other people personally that were going through what I was going through.

Speaker 1: 9:46

I listened to podcasts and quit literature about quitting alcohol that's what that means and I felt so good. I felt so good and, literally on the four-month mark, on March 12th 2020, when the world was starting to shut down New York in particular, new York City my husband and I we went out for dinner and I said this is crazy. What is going on. This is so. It was nuts. And I said I think I'm going to have a beer. And he said I think I'm going to have a beer. And he said have a beer. And the very next sentence, he said do you think it's something you can control? And I said sure, yeah, yeah. And I had one beer that night. And then it slowly came back in Buying the wine, having the wine delivered, having the food delivered, having everything. The pandemic. Hats off to people that stayed sober in the pandemic because, for the most part, women especially.

Speaker 1: 10:56

I think the statistic is something like 60% drank more than they ever have. Because we were forced at home, we lost our jobs, our kids were with us, which is not a natural thing. It's not natural to have a family living within the walls of a few rooms, especially in New York, so I slipped right back into it and then, throughout the couple years of the pandemic, I suffered some really personal loss. My mother-in-law died very suddenly from cancer and at the same time, my best friend that I'd known for 27 years, his body was failing, ironically because of alcohol. He was HIV positive and he was also a drinker for a long time and hid it very well. He had moved out of New York City, he lived in Ohio and here he was losing his battle. And when he finally did pass in April of 2022, I was gutted. I was just what. He was 54 years old and he died from something that is very preventable. And in my head I thought is this what it's going to take for you to get your shit together? And I almost went to the hospital. Honestly, I almost flew to Ohio to see him dying on his deathbed because I wondered if that would get it through to me that this is something I really need to start thinking about. I didn't, because he's so vain and he would have hated that. He would have hated for me to see him that way in his last moments of life. So I, literally I used to call it the fuck it button.

Speaker 1: 13:07

But after he passed, I was in my kitchen making dinner for my family. It was just my son and my husband. My daughter was at college and I made something. I can't even remember what it was. It was so bad it was awful. I tasted it. It tasted like shit. I said can we just order a pizza? And I was breaking down, I was coping with this loss, this grief, and my husband said, yeah, let's order a pizza. And so for the next 15 months, that's what I did. I ordered the pizzas. I ordered the pizzas. I ordered the Chinese food, the Mexican food, I ordered all the wine. I washed it down with tons of wine, vodka. If I was feeling extra celebratory or really wanted to kick back, I didn't leave that in my house because I would drink it. So I prided myself on the fact that that at least I knew that. But there was a lot of wine and and I got heavier and I started to see myself in pictures and I did not like the way I looked. Yet I didn't do anything about it. I was kind of resigning myself to just thing about it. I was kind of resigning myself to just okay, well, I'm 50 now and that's what I'm, maybe that's how I'm supposed to look.

Speaker 1: 14:39

And in the summer of 23, it was I was turning into someone I didn't recognize and I was having feelings that I've never felt before, feelings of I'm not sure if I want to get out of bed. This morning I had a part-time job to go to at the time as an elder caregiver, and I knew I had to get out of bed, but I didn't. I thought what if I didn't? What if I just said fuck it, I'm going to stay in bed all day? And I know this is signs of depression. I have never struggled with this personally. My mother has. I have really good friends that have my best friend that I lost. He's got struggled with depression and he drank, which only made it worse.

Speaker 1: 15:22

I knew what was going on inside of my body and why I was feeling that way, and it's because I was drinking too much. And yet I couldn't tell. I couldn't tell anyone. So I went to my doctor. I had to go to my doctor to get a prescription refilled. I hadn't seen her in about 18 months since my friend died. Basically, and I think subconsciously, I knew that it was going to be bad. It's not a very fancy adjective, but I really thought that maybe I was drinking and ramping up because I knew it was going to be so bad and then that was going to set me on a new path.

Speaker 1: 16:12

And I went to her and she had remembered you know, she's been with me for years and she remembered my liver enzymes going up. She remembered my the one year no beer group. She, she, was very attentive. She has other patients that drink a lot too. She told me, has other patients that drink a lot too.

Speaker 1: 16:35

She told me we talked about AA. I said I'm not an AA person. I've never identified as an alcoholic. I really don't like that label. I don't like labels in general, because the drinking, the gray area, drinking, is really what was going on with me. There were no external consequences.

Speaker 1: 16:52

I kept my job. I was a high-functioning woman A lot of us are and at night we drink our wine to feel relaxed, to escape. We're not fulfilled. That's why we drink. There's something that we're missing.

Speaker 1: 17:09

So I went to my doctor, I expressed myself. She heard me, she really listened to me. We talked about naltrexone as a medication that you can take that will curb the desire to drink. And I mean I even brought up and I mean I even brought up ozempic and semaglutides because I had heard that even those, in addition to curbing the food appetite, they can curb your desire for alcohol. She said I didn't qualify for that because I wasn't diabetic. I was pre-diabetic at the time. I was pre-diabetic at the time. I have been for the last eight years or so.

Speaker 1: 18:18

Anyway, we do my blood work and it came back the next day and it was so atrocious that's a good word, it was awful. My cholesterol was high, my glucose, my A1C, I was 0.3 away from diabetic range. It was a 6.7. For those people listening who know what that number is. My blood pressure was high. I was heavy. I was over 200 pounds. As a six-foot woman and that's another thing. As a tall woman you can hide weight like that. But, like I said, it just didn't feel good. I didn't feel good. And my liver enzymes, those liver enzymes. I was talking about that 5 to 40 range, where in the past it was around 80. One was 195 and the other was 311. Right, take a big gasp, because that is black and white.

Speaker 2: 19:02

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 19:03

There is no arguing that, arguing that that is a fact, that I was drinking too much. So she wrote me an email and I think she was more alarmed than I was prepared. It didn't surprise me at all, honestly. I think it really alarmed her and she said unless you are willing to make drastic behavioral changes, I will put you on medication. I will put you on a statin for your cholesterol. I will probably at some point put you on. I mean, I was close to being diabetic. I was 51 years old. It was such a wake-up call.

Speaker 2: 20:05

And in my head I said hell, no, hell, no.

Speaker 1: 20:08

I am not going to be just another American statistic. I had to choose which way I was going to go and so I started down that road and I I didn't drink and I leaned into all the other things that I have have got me there before the podcasts, the books, the one thing that I did lean into this time around was the community, which really is the opposite of addiction. Because if you can go on Zoom thank God for the pandemic, for this Zoom because now we can connect in ways we never could before. We don't have to go to the church basement at AA to meet someone who hopefully resonates with us. We can dial in and meet up with people. We can go on sober retreats. We can do X, y and Z. I'm getting ahead of myself. She said don't wait too long, I want to see you no less than three months. So in my head I was like okay, I'm not going to see her in three weeks, I'm going to see her just under three months. So I made an appointment for three months later I changed my diet.

Speaker 1: 21:26

I changed I mean I was no more ordering in, no more pasta, no more fried food. I started moving my body. I walked, I walked, walked, walked. I think the first month I walked over 80 miles. I just laced up my shoes, put a podcast on, put a quitlet book on and just moved I started going to my gym.

Speaker 1: 21:51

I belonged to this bougie gym that I wasn't even getting the most out of because I wasn't going there. I would stop in that gym to use the bathroom, no matter where I was in the city. There are many locations in the city. If I had to go to the bathroom, I'd stop in right in the city. If I had to go to the bathroom, I'd stop in right so pathetic. I remember one day I set out for a walk before I quit drinking and I was so tired and so gassed that I had to take a bus home. It's a park that is right on a bus line and I hopped on the bus to go home. I went back to see my doctor three months later and I was a completely changed woman. She thought that maybe I was getting Ozempic on the black market.

Speaker 2: 22:38

Wow.

Speaker 1: 22:40

Yep, I had lost 30 pounds. My cholesterol came down 50 points. My cholesterol came down 50 points. My A1C was so low that I wasn't even pre-diabetic anymore. It came down 1.1, down to like a 5.5 or 5.6. My blood pressure was normal, it was all just. My liver enzymes were normal, all because I removed this alcohol from my life.

Speaker 1: 23:14

I would not have been able to accomplish these goals if I was still drinking, and so I wrapped my head around the fact that I was not a moderate drinker. I accepted it, and with accepting that came so much freedom. Your head gets so full of the mental gymnastics that play out. I know people talk about this with food as well. With drink, it's easy because, especially in New York, it's not in liquor, it's not in grocery stores, it's not in. You have to, you have to make your, you have to go out, you have to seek it out. I mean, yes, it is everywhere, but I, I, I just made peace with the fact that this was going to be my life, that that that's it. Party's over. I had a good run. It's like a Broadway show. It's like Phantom. Phantom was going on for 30 some years, right, and then it closed. Yeah, that was a good run. So I just thought of that right now. That's pretty so.

Speaker 1: 24:25

My drinking career was like a Phantom of the Opera. It was a long run. People came, lots of tourists, lots of parties, and then it had to end. It had to, otherwise I start down a different road for the rest of the as I get older, the rest of the years of my life, and it just wasn't an option of my life. And it just wasn't an option. And here today I will be 10 months sober on the 14th. I don't know when this is airing, but actually tomorrow I'm 300. And when I was very, very early in my sobriety I kind of counted on the calendar ahead. Tomorrow I'm 300 days sober. Tomorrow I'm 300 days sober and I feel like such a badass. It is a badass move to remove alcohol from your life and to start living authentically to your potential. That I knew I could, and I'm just shouting it from the mountaintops, as you can see from my Instagram.

Speaker 2: 25:32

I can. I can tell that Melissa, let me. Well, okay, you unpacked a lot, so, um, let me step back. Let's go back a little bit with um your husband. Like did he in his mind? Was he thinking, melissa has a problem? He's like, oh, she's just drinking like everybody else? Like what was his thinking?

Speaker 1: 25:54

That's a really good question and I really haven't explored it too much with him. I have just started my own podcast recently and I'm going to have him on as a guest and I'm going to ask him some hard questions like that. It's kind of scary to talk about that, even though I'm doing so well and feeling good, it's like. And why didn't he say something to me, Right?

Speaker 2: 26:24

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 26:25

That's hard and I think a part of the reason is because I still had my shit together. There was no DUI, there was no losing my job. Our marriage was still intact and healthy-ish. I mean, it's healthier now that I don't become a different person because I drink alcohol.

Speaker 2: 26:47

Yeah, it's interesting to well, I've heard different answers in regards to that and again, you never know what they're thinking. First of all, they're thinking, like you just said, you had your shit together. They're thinking, oh, she's just a casual drinker, she doesn't have a problem. And then you never know what the answer is going to be. So I would say brace yourself, because you never know what his answer is going to be. Um, because for I mean for other people and I'm not saying in your situation, but for some people who did have that I knew of that had, uh, an issue with the drinking. They needed that partner more. So the thought of the alcohol not being in place would mean that they didn't need them anymore. And as crazy and you think that's so effed up. But they're not thinking a problem. They're thinking they want to be needed and I want to be loved and if we take the alcohol out, she's not going to love me anymore, she's not going to want me. So, okay, maybe not the husband, but how about friends? Again, did-.

Speaker 1: 28:01

Yeah, this is big. And this was one of those yellow signals that was starting to turn orange and maybe red was my daughter. I have a 21-year-old daughter and last summer there were a couple instances when we were together with friends and she heard someone say and one was my niece. My niece said something like Aunt Melissa, she doesn't do anything, she just sits here and drinks all day. And one was my niece. My niece said something like Aunt Melissa, she doesn't do anything, she just sits here and drinks all day. And so my daughter told me that and my daughter told it to me, prefacing it with they don't understand, you just want to relax. It's a party, it's a get-together. What's the big deal? And in my head I thought, oh God, that is super, not okay.

Speaker 1: 28:59

And that was in March of 23. And then in August, right before just days before I stopped, it was another. It was the same. I stopped, it was another. It was the same, my niece, and there was talk about the bottles, the empty bottles, and we left that get together and my daughter said God, I'm so sick of everyone talking about the fact that you're an alcoholic, assuming you're an alcoholic, or something like that. And I was so hung over. This was my last hangover. I felt like absolute shit. You don't sleep when you drink. I was up at three in the morning with anxiety and this was my exit hearing my daughter say those words and this doctor's appointment was in two days and in my head I was like this is not okay. This is just not okay. So that's maybe even more powerful coming from your kid, your husband, I don't know. Yeah, so it was building up and that voice. It was just becoming louder and louder. And the actual hard proof of the medical tests, the blood tests, the numbers, were really what pushed it over the top.

Speaker 2: 30:32

So what keeps you going forward? What keeps you from not, you know, going back relapsing? I mean, you know you talked about your friend dying and that's that's. That's tough. I mean, that is tough and you know, normally in human nature when we're going through some tough times we go back to what we're used to using to soothe us. So, with that being said, you now moving forward 10 months sober. What do you have any? Do you have anything in place to protect you from going that route again?

Speaker 1: 31:14

I do. Yeah, I have a whole community. I can pick up my phone right now and call a dozen people if I need help. I have a Zoom. I have three different Zoom communities that I can get on, one of which is just organic, like five of us, five friends of us that we met on a retreat recently, and there's a really great phrase that I come back to over and over. Play the tape forward is my phrase and over play the tape forward is my phrase. If I'm feeling like I can't do it and I want to have a drink, I think about what I'm going to feel like in the morning, what I'm going to feel like the next day, because it's not just one drink, as we've talked about. It's going to be a whole experience and it's going to make me feel remorse and regret and embarrassment and shame, and those are not good feelings.

Speaker 1: 32:18

Those feelings are not okay with me anymore. So I think ahead and I also remember what I left behind. I remember lying in this bed behind. I remember lying in this bed, feeling like I didn't want to get out of it and I don't ever want to go back there.

Speaker 2: 32:43

I just don't, it's not worth it. It's not worth it. Yeah, wow, that's really powerful. And you finding your community. You know people have such a hard time being honest and telling other people and being shamed about it, but it's that one thing that's gonna help them overcome these challenges because they're not alone. And I think that is the hardest thing to tell people that you are not the only one feeling this. Because when you have that moment and, I'm sure, when you are talking to tell people that you are not the only one feeling this, because when you have that moment and, I'm sure, when you are talking to other people and you're like, oh my God, I did that and oh my God, it feels so good to not be alone. So you have a whole community backing you up, moving forward how powerful is that.

Speaker 1: 33:31

It's super powerful. It really is is everything, and it gives you the confidence to well. It does for me anyway to bring it up with people that don't even know that about me and it just can come up in a casual way and I'm proud of it. I'm really proud to say I'm a sober woman. You know the shame of like, because early on it's like oh my God, what are people going to think of me? They're going to think I had a major problem and, yeah, that's a normal thing to start feeling as time goes on. Who the fuck cares what they think? Honestly, it's all about what you feel inside and if you're grounded and centered and confident, the confidence that comes with sobriety is unparalleled, because you're living an authentic life. You're living a true life to yourself and the relationships that you have are so much better.

Speaker 2: 34:34

Melissa, wow, you just gave me chills that I can hear in your voice, that power, that conviction. I think you talking about it is powerful and amazing in that you, I think what you said, the word that you said that gave me the chills, was that you're, you're proud to be sober Like that is wow, huge. It's like you accept, you accepted the journey for what it was and you're accepting where you are right now. And you're accepting where you are right now, which is amazing. So tell me what you're doing now with this information and you feeling like you're telling everybody. I mean, I could just imagine you're just so proud of yourself. This is such a you are a badass.

Speaker 1: 35:27

You are a badass. So what are you doing? Yeah, there's a lot of badasses out there, for sure what I'm doing, and this came to me probably a couple months after I removed alcohol from my life. I am currently in a coaching program and I am going to start coaching those that want to change their relationship with alcohol, end their relationship with alcohol, discover who they are, start living authentically, rediscover their passions, because once you get rid of all this noise, it opens up a landscape of possibilities.

Speaker 1: 36:08

Oh yeah, it opens up a landscape of possibilities. Oh yeah, and I'm about halfway through this program and I'm building a business this year and I'm currently working with some people just for free as practice to kind of get my feet wet and inspire, and I see lots of great things happening in the future with this. I just feel like this is what I need to do. I need to contribute, I need to give back because it helps me too. It helps me grow, it helps me stay centered and eye on the prize.

Speaker 2: 36:49

She's giving me chills again, because I think you're aligned. You're aligned in your purpose. You found your purpose. That is amazing that you're going to give back, but how powerful will it be for someone who does understand and is sober, and it is motivating. So you giving back being a coach. I just looked at your Instagram and it says alcohol-free coach in training. I love that and I love that you've been sober since August 14, 2023. So we're coming close to a year which is amazing.

Speaker 1: 37:26

I can't believe it. It's amazing.

Speaker 2: 37:29

I love your page. It's hilarious Some of the things that you put on there. Yes, that one. But you're so honest and when I see the difference oh my God, girl, your legs. Like the one where it has the picture of the. It says what a difference a year makes of the. It says what a difference a year makes. It's like you shrink you're like half a person.

Speaker 1: 37:55

Well, I mean, it's 30 pounds is a significant number right? Oh yeah, it is, but like I said I'm a tall person Like I could carry. I could carry 30 pounds in my back pocket really and not even be noticeable to some people. But when you put pictures side by side it's like oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, you did yeah.

Speaker 2: 38:19

Yeah, you look amazing. I'm looking at you, look amazing, yeah. So, melissa, wow, you are just powerful. Such a powerful story and again, you doing what you're doing and I can feel that you're where you need to be. When you're talking about it, I can feel you see your face lighting up and you are definitely where you need to be. So, with that, where can we find you? Where can we find the Instagram If someone wanted to reach out to you? How do they go about doing that?

Speaker 1: 38:55

My Instagram is at the sober New Yorker and you can send me a DM, and I really mean that, because the people randomly DM me and they need someone to talk to. They need help, they need tips to talk to. They need help, they need tips. I'm totally here for that, because if you can't tell someone personally, telling someone that you don't know is at least getting out there and getting it known. I also have a website, thesobernewyorkercom, where you can actually download a free guide of how, what, the tools I used for the first 30 days of going alcohol free. I have a free guide on there and you can be on my email subscription list as well. And that's me, that's. That's it for now. That's enough, my kids say you got the podcast.

Speaker 1: 39:48

I got the podcast. That literally happened like two days ago, um, but it's out there. It's on Spotify. I have to figure out how to do Apple. I'm working on it.

Speaker 2: 39:58

So it's called the sober New Yorker. New Yorker I'm keeping it all. I like it.

Speaker 1: 40:05

Yeah, and I'm going to interview people and hear inspiring stories of bad assery and epic comebacks. Basically, yeah.

Speaker 2: 40:17

Oh, wow, I, I, I again. I don't even I'm speechless I'm normally don't get speechless, but it's just such a powerful story, um, and the authenticity. Authenticity is just amazing, you being so genuine, um. Again, melissa, thank you so much for coming on here and being honest and raw and sharing all the good stuff. Thank you so much. You're so welcome. Thank you for having me, Lisa.

Speaker 1: 40:46

Thank you.

Speaker 2: 40:46

Okay. So again, don't forget Instagram. It is the Sober New Yorker. She's got the website, she's got the podcast and we'll put all of those on the show notes so you can reach out to her. So again, thank you everyone for being here and until next time. Bye you.