DOPEY in The Family Replay: Linda! Destroying and Saving a family, Drinking, Coke, Xanax, Crazy Crack Email!

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This week on Dopey's Greatest Hits!

This replay episode features host David Manheim reflecting on personal chaos, gratitude amid frustration, powerful listener emails/stories (including a harrowing crack/coke seizure tale from Minnesota Matt), and a full classic interview with his partner Linda. They share their raw, unfiltered relationship story—from meeting via mutual friend Todd, early partying (coke, Ativan, drinking), pregnancy amid hidden heroin relapse, family destruction during active addiction, separation, supervised visitations, Dave's bottoming out, eventual sobriety, reconciliation, and rebuilding a family with two kids. Interspersed with intros, emails, Spotify comments, voicemails, and musical interludes (Firecracker rap, song snippets), it captures Dopey's signature mix of dark humor, brutal honesty, recovery insights, and "dumb shit" war stories.

The episode opens with Dave navigating recent frustrations—dealing with a guest pulling an episode due to cold feet, sponsor issues, and everyday life stressors—while emphasizing core recovery principles like acceptance, gratitude, and service over resentment. He reflects on childhood influences like Popeye's "I am what I am" mantra as a metaphor for self-acceptance in sobriety, and teases upcoming substantive guests while reading heartfelt (and critical) listener feedback. The heart of the show is the replay of a classic episode featuring Dave and Linda's candid conversation, detailing the highs and lows of their relationship: from initial attraction and drug-fueled early days, through the pregnancy discovery and Dave's escalating heroin use (including nodding out during birthing classes and missing key moments post-birth), to the devastating confrontation when Linda discovered the paraphernalia and the subsequent separation.

The story doesn't shy away from the pain—Linda's isolation during a complicated delivery, Dave's rock-bottom spiral involving heavy daily use, arrests, and black eyes during supervised visits with their daughter Nora—but it ultimately lands on hope and redemption. Dave credits their daughter as a major motivator for sobriety, and the couple discusses the hard work of rebuilding trust, family life, and even welcoming a second child. Reflections on the losses of close friends Todd and Chris add emotional weight, underscoring how addiction's toll extends beyond the individual. All that and More, more, more on this weeks new new new episode of dopey!

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