Intro: Hey folks, it's Marvin Cash, the host of The Articulate Fly.

Intro: On this episode, I'm joined by Sylvia Huron and her son, Ian.

Intro: They generously discussed Sylvia's recovery journey and the charity they co-founded,

Intro: Reeling in Serenity, to support others in recovery through fly fishing.

Intro: I really think you're going to enjoy this touching story.

Intro: But before we get to the interview, just a couple of housekeeping items.

Intro: If you like the podcast, please tell a friend and please subscribe and leave

Intro: us a rating or view in the podcatcher of your choice. It really helps us out.

Intro: And we've received several listener questions asking about the best way to support the show.

Intro: One way is to become a member of our community on Patreon and make a single or recurring donation.

Intro: Our community has some great benefits like discounts on tying materials,

Intro: guide trips, and more. Check out the link in the show notes for more details.

Intro: And we recently released an interview-only show, The Long Haul with the Articulate Fly.

Intro: So if you prefer to listen to the Articulate Fly without the fishing reports,

Intro: just search The Long Haul in your favorite podcatcher.

Intro: Now, on to the interview.

Marvin: Well, Sylvia and Ian, welcome to the Articulate Fly.

Sylvia: Thank you, Marvin. Happy to be here.

Marvin: Yeah, I'm really looking forward to our conversation and I really,

Marvin: I enjoyed getting to know you guys on the pre-interview call and I really appreciate you kind of,

Marvin: you know, sharing your recovery journey and then we're going to talk about all

Marvin: the great work that you're doing with Reeling and Serenity and I guess, you know, really,

Marvin: you know, the place to start, Sylvia, is with you and you're in recovery and

Marvin: I was wondering if you could kind of share a little bit of your path to addiction.

Sylvia: Sure. Thanks, Marvin. So my path to addiction.

Sylvia: So I was always a drinker from a young age in my teens and sort of an isolated

Sylvia: drinker, drank on my own a lot.

Sylvia: And i'm uh at one

Sylvia: point about seven eight years

Sylvia: ago i really started drinking heavily because

Sylvia: of some personal issues things i went through in my life um and i began to drink

Sylvia: heavily by myself on my own and i also became addicted to xanax as well so two

Sylvia: things i was drinking and also so addicted to Xanax as well.

Sylvia: I basically shut myself off from family, friends, became very isolated.

Sylvia: And it started to become a real issue when I really isolated.

Sylvia: I isolated myself from Ian, which he's the most important thing in my life.

Sylvia: And we've always had a wonderful relationship. relationship but at that

Sylvia: point it was affecting my

Sylvia: job all my relationships um i

Sylvia: was a i was a functioning alcoholic and addict i will say which a lot of people

Sylvia: are but for me i was able to function but it did start to interfere with my

Sylvia: work as well um and at that point ian and a dear a dear friend of ours named Charles,

Sylvia: Chuck Lindemood, they basically did an intervention for me and, and set up, um.

Sylvia: A recovery center for me to go to and spoke with me.

Sylvia: And I was sort of in denial at first, but then I realized that I really needed

Sylvia: to do something. I needed help.

Sylvia: And so I basically went to a recovery center.

Sylvia: I'd never, never had a situation like that in my life and had to detox and went

Sylvia: to a recovery center for a month.

Sylvia: And that's kind of where my recovery journey started at that point.

Sylvia: But that's sort of a brief history of my journey to addiction and then also to recovery.

Marvin: And I remember, too, in our pre-interview call that you shared that a lot of

Marvin: people that are struggling with addiction and substance abuse,

Marvin: they're afraid to get help, right?

Marvin: For a variety of reasons. And I was wondering, I know some of it was specific

Marvin: to your profession, but there were also kind of more general issues.

Marvin: And I was wondering, you know, if you could share a little bit about that and

Marvin: maybe, you know, give some advice for someone who's listening that might be

Marvin: similarly situated, that's kind of, you know, holding back.

Marvin: They know they need help, but they're scared to get help. Maybe some suggestions

Marvin: about maybe how to overcome that hurdle. role?

Sylvia: Yeah. So I know for me and from what I've shared with other people in recovery

Sylvia: and spoken to people in recovery, one of the biggest things is shame.

Sylvia: I think shame really, really pulls us down and keeps us from reaching out for help.

Sylvia: It's a very, very difficult thing to say. drugs or alcohol have such control

Sylvia: on my life that I'm willing to lose my job.

Sylvia: I'm willing to lose my family, lose my friend, lose the place I live,

Sylvia: do things that other people would kind of look at and say, how could you possibly do that?

Sylvia: But addiction is so strong that it has that control on you.

Sylvia: And I think fame is one of the hardest, hardest things to be able to admit, I need help.

Sylvia: And I think too, that it's not an easy journey.

Sylvia: Recovery is not an easy journey. It's one of the hardest things I've ever done

Sylvia: in my life ever, and probably ever will do.

Sylvia: Um, so I think it's just those, the shame and the willingness to say,

Sylvia: I need help from outside.

Sylvia: I need someone to help me deal with this. Um.

Sylvia: I think, you know, some things you have to get to a point, at least I did,

Sylvia: where I accepted I needed help.

Sylvia: And I think when you're in the clutches of addiction, it's just so,

Sylvia: it's easier to stay where you are.

Sylvia: It takes a lot to climb out of that gully and ask for help. I think one of the

Sylvia: things are people that are close to you.

Sylvia: I think if you can confide in one person at least, or even an outside facility,

Sylvia: there are a lot of addiction helplines, there are a lot of addiction centers

Sylvia: that you can outreach to, Alcoholics Anonymous,

Sylvia: Narcotics Anonymous.

Sylvia: There are lots of avenues, but just taking that first step, I think it's just that first step.

Sylvia: If you can just take that first step, the other steps come a little bit easier, easier, easier.

Sylvia: Everybody's journey is a little bit different. um we you always think well if

Sylvia: i relapse then i failed which i had to get it over well,

Sylvia: it's not a failure it's just a bump in the road and you have to start again

Sylvia: and a lot of people do they start over and they've been to multiple rehab facilities

Sylvia: and and tried multiple times but what i would say is never give up and and just

Sylvia: take that first step of reaching out to someone

Sylvia: that you can confide in, even if it's on a hot, you know, a helpline,

Sylvia: just to be able to say it and ask for help is the biggest thing. And the shame.

Sylvia: It's not an easy thing to get over because I think you kind of,

Sylvia: it takes a while when you're in recovery to put that shame behind you.

Sylvia: It can take a very long time, but at the same time, you have to hold your head

Sylvia: up and go forward and say, okay, I'm going to do this one step at a time.

Sylvia: And, you know, I have to think about myself and what I've done in the past is

Sylvia: history. You know, I always say if the past calls you, don't answer.

Sylvia: It doesn't have anything nice to say.

Sylvia: You know, when you're talking about those things you've done in the past,

Sylvia: remember them, but don't let it stop you from going forward and at least trying.

Sylvia: But I really think just having that outside support, whether it's through a

Sylvia: facility or a group, a group or someone in your family or friends that you can confide in.

Sylvia: I think that just getting that first step out of the way is is a big, big deal.

Marvin: Yeah. And it's interesting, too, because so many employers now have as part

Marvin: of their benefits package, you know, a confidential counseling and referral service.

Marvin: And it's a that is a, you know, can be a really good gateway for people at work

Marvin: if they don't know where to call. Right.

Sylvia: That is a great thing. I was going to mention that as well. Our company has that.

Sylvia: Things have changed, I think, in society,

Sylvia: not to the point where I think they should be, but I think addiction along with

Sylvia: mental health are some things that are coming more to the surface than they used to be.

Sylvia: And there are a lot of possibilities for help, more than we had before.

Sylvia: Or if you're just not, you know, if you can find that courage just to take that first step and ask.

Sylvia: And the confidentiality, I think, is something everybody thinks about.

Sylvia: I don't want to tell anyone because I don't want to say my name.

Sylvia: I don't want anyone to know.

Sylvia: And that in the beginning is normal, I think. You don't want anyone to know.

Sylvia: And services through your employer, if you have them, that is a perfect segue.

Sylvia: Way just to at least start the process and get additional resources that are available for you.

Sylvia: Or if you know somebody in recovery, even talking to them is a good way to start.

Sylvia: I think everybody has a different journey.

Sylvia: Some things work for some people. Other programs may work better for someone else.

Sylvia: You just have to find what's right for you. But just to get started is huge.

Marvin: Yeah. And, you know, you know, Sylvia, so can you, you know,

Marvin: we did, you gave us kind of a high level view of your journey,

Marvin: but can you share that turning point for you on your recovery journey and kind

Marvin: of take us from there to kind of sitting in your, uh, your son's apartment,

Marvin: uh, after dinner talking to me?

Sylvia: So uh you know i when i

Sylvia: went into um into rehab

Sylvia: it was it was a whole

Sylvia: new obviously experience for me um i am a nurse and nurses are probably the

Sylvia: worst for finding care for themselves um but i was in a severe state of denial

Sylvia: and i think that's common for most of us um in recovery recovery.

Sylvia: And I was in the recovery center, rehab center for a month and graduated,

Sylvia: you know, went through all the counseling.

Sylvia: And as soon as I got out, I relapsed right when I came out again.

Sylvia: And that was one of the really hardest points, I think, was having to tell Ian,

Sylvia: my son, that I had relapsed because I was ashamed.

Sylvia: I was mad at myself and felt like I couldn't do this.

Sylvia: But I went back to the same rehab with my graduation.

Sylvia: They all welcomed me back again, which was embarrassing as well.

Sylvia: But, you know, I'm back. I'm not perfect.

Sylvia: And I was there for another month.

Sylvia: And while I was there, I had the head counselor who was counseling me.

Sylvia: And she basically said to me, when you leave here, you need to go into a sober

Sylvia: living. Well, I was in my 50s at the time, and I just thought, this is horrible.

Sylvia: I'm at this age of my life, and I have to go to a sober living and live with

Sylvia: other addicts and alcoholics for six months, and basically put a stop to my normal life.

Sylvia: And I fought it. I fought it. I said, no way, I'm not going to a sober living. No way.

Sylvia: I don't need that. And I remember she looked at me and she said,

Sylvia: if you don't do this, you're going to die. You're basically not going to make it.

Sylvia: And I still was in denial. And I remember that night I was in the bed and I

Sylvia: went to sleep and I woke up the next morning and I was just looking at the ceiling thinking,

Sylvia: okay, one more day in rehab, I can do this.

Sylvia: But then I just felt this weight just come off of me and I just looked up and said, I'm done.

Sylvia: I am handing it over to my higher power. And whatever, you know,

Sylvia: for everybody, their higher power is something different.

Sylvia: Different um for me and

Sylvia: my soul I just knew I had gotten to that point where I accepted it I'm an alcoholic

Sylvia: I'm an addict I need help and I'm giving I'm handing it over and I'm gonna stop

Sylvia: trying to control things and

Sylvia: I'll never forget I just felt this weight come off of me and I just I knew.

Sylvia: From this point on, I can do this and I'm going to do it.

Sylvia: And I went in right away to the counselor and said, I'm going to sober living.

Sylvia: And it was the best decision I could have ever made ever.

Sylvia: And I went into a sober living for six months, which is a pretty rigid program.

Sylvia: You go to meetings every day, AA meetings.

Sylvia: You have to report in. You're in a very structured environment with others who are in recovery as well.

Sylvia: And it was six long months, but I honestly don't think I could have made it if I hadn't done that.

Sylvia: And that was really the turning point for me.

Sylvia: And when I came out of the sober living, I haven't looked back since then.

Sylvia: I haven't. And I'm almost a little over almost six years sober now.

Sylvia: And I honestly think that was the best decision I could have ever made.

Sylvia: I actually got to the point where I could listen to someone who was telling

Sylvia: me something and finally accepting it and bringing it in.

Sylvia: And then from that point, when I came out of the sober living,

Sylvia: I got a new job. I'm still at that same job.

Sylvia: And then, you know, bonding with Ian has just been phenomenal.

Sylvia: Rebonding with Ian, I would say, has been phenomenal from that point on. Yeah.

Sylvia: But that was the turning point.

Marvin: Yeah. And, you know, Ian, we were talking in our last time we spoke that,

Marvin: um, you know, I think sometimes people don't think about the impact of addiction

Marvin: on the addict support network.

Marvin: And I was just kind of curious if you could share with us, you know,

Marvin: what it's like to watch someone that you care about deeply struggle to move into recovery.

Ian: Well, yeah, I suppose I do.

Ian: I can't offer a pretty intimate answer to that question, given that,

Ian: you know, my mom is my mom and I'm her son and only child raised by a single mother.

Ian: Um, so it's been her and I against the world for as long as I can remember,

Ian: um, since I was like six and, uh, you know, that I understand that anybody's

Ian: experiences with someone that you may know,

Ian: love, um.

Ian: And their battle with addiction can be deeply individualized

Ian: but i would probably say that

Ian: one of the best things i learned is that you have to not you you have to embrace

Ian: the fact that you care about someone so deeply but also to um set healthy boundaries

Ian: um you know as my mom was kind

Ian: of struggling through rehab and really hitting that point of no return around

Ian: the time she relapsed, like she just walked through,

Ian: you know, when we got her into rehab, we had to write these letters to her and

Ian: I had to really come clean with her as far as what our relationship

Ian: was going to look like if she did

Ian: not find a path to sobriety

Ian: um and I don't want to call it

Ian: an ultimatum because that's almost too black and white um it was more I wrote

Ian: from my heart and I wrote about what I was feeling in my soul and really was

Ian: just very upfront with her around like, look, this is where we currently stand.

Ian: And if you continue to treat us, everybody who loves you and yourself like this,

Ian: then there's not a world that I can envision where we have the same relationship that we did.

Ian: It's not like I'll never speak to you again, but I'm not going to be the son

Ian: that you thought I was or that I have been up until this point,

Ian: because I can't, I can't keep sitting in this corner and watching you,

Ian: um, you do this to yourself.

Ian: If someone was struggling to, um, you know.

Ian: Empathize or support someone who is really battling with addiction and cannot

Ian: find a way to move into recovery.

Ian: One of my biggest things that I would also say is to just really be an open listener.

Ian: Mom would talk to me about what she was going through.

Ian: And I would like to call out that we do have a phenomenal relationship.

Ian: And I think it was one of the best things for her that she was able to,

Ian: especially as she really moves through rehab, talk to me without judgment,

Ian: be honest with me about how she was feeling, what she was going through and,

Ian: you know, tell me from her heart, there had been a lot of lies and a lot of,

Ian: you know, covering ups beforehand,

Ian: but she was able to really share with me.

Ian: And I think I finally got her to understand that no matter what she told me,

Ian: I was still going to listen.

Ian: And I would say that that's a huge thing to practice with someone who you may

Ian: have in your life, whether it be a friend or a brother or a parent,

Ian: just to have them understand that they can say things to you and it's not going

Ian: to blow up whatever relationship you have.

Ian: Just tell me the truth And I'm going to still be sitting across from you after

Ian: you're done telling that.

Ian: I think that's that's a huge one.

Sylvia: I would I would agree 100 percent. And just to kind of piggyback on what Ian

Sylvia: said about that, it was an impact letters, what they call it at rehab.

Sylvia: And I still read Ian's letter every year, every anniversary of my sobriety.

Sylvia: I go back and read the letters that I got from my brother, Curtis,

Sylvia: from Ian and our dear friend, Chuck, who was part of my intervention.

Sylvia: And I think that's important. But I will say when I read that letter, it was devastating,

Sylvia: but also it really brought me forward as well.

Sylvia: I was able to come back to how important these people are in my life, and I can't lose them.

Sylvia: Nothing could get in the way of those people that I love the dearest.

Sylvia: And yeah, that was a big deal, Ian's letter.

Sylvia: Again, I still have it, but I read it every anniversary.

Marvin: Yeah, I think, you know, not just for addiction, but I think that ability to

Marvin: create the safe space for people that you want to, you know,

Marvin: I mean, really what you're doing is living in community with them,

Marvin: whatever the issue is, right?

Marvin: And I think that's a very, very, very powerful thing.

Sylvia: Yeah, that safe space of knowing that, you know, because you do horrible things

Sylvia: when you're in addiction and the throes of addiction.

Sylvia: You steal, you lie, you damage.

Sylvia: I kind of liken it to when you watch water going down a drain.

Sylvia: It's like that circle that just goes down the drain and you suck everybody down with you.

Sylvia: You'll take everything with you. You'll take jobs.

Sylvia: You'll take friendships. ships. You'll take, you just take everyone with you

Sylvia: down the drain and, you know, you have to stop it somewhere.

Sylvia: And when someone can say, look, you're not taking me down, but I'm here for you.

Sylvia: I'm here for you. You can tell me anything, not going to judge, but I'm here for you.

Sylvia: And that, that safe space is very important, extremely important.

Ian: There's something I wanted to just call

Ian: out too because you had asked what it was like for me and

Ian: um it's something mom said uh when

Ian: she um she kind of hit that point

Ian: or you you had asked um if if she

Ian: had suggestions for someone who was

Ian: actively struggling and you basically called out

Ian: mom that it there was a point that first

Ian: step of saying i need help uh admitting

Ian: that to yourself first and foremost

Ian: and then to those around you i had to

Ian: have that moment as well i mean mom spoke at the top of the interview about

Ian: how you know at the uh even in later stages of her addiction she was somewhat

Ian: in denial i'll freely admit that i was too like as someone who was watching it from From afar,

Ian: it took a long time for me to have a moment where I was like, this is a problem.

Ian: For the longest time, you know, the fact was that mom was functioning.

Ian: You know, she she she basically could continue to go about her life,

Ian: despite the fact that she was still engaging in all these addictions.

Ian: And it took a long time for me to say, I need help in the sense of like,

Ian: I need help from outside her.

Ian: Her and I, an institution, a family friend, a mantra, a belief,

Ian: a fundamentalist-like system, whatever,

Ian: whatever it might have been, I had to have that moment of, okay,

Ian: we're going to have to go outside.

Ian: Uh a locked room with her and i trying to

Ian: hash this out and bring something else in that

Ian: is going to instigate change because it's not

Ian: just gonna i just can't i can't do this myself and i have to recognize this

Ian: as an issue as well and i remember uh it was surreal having that moment as well

Ian: like um it threw me for a loop because it's almost it's almost like i came to

Ian: grips with it just as hard as she did.

Ian: Um, so yeah, sorry. I, I, I wrote that down as you were talking about it,

Ian: mom. So I wanted to not cheat.

Marvin: No, no, no, not at all. But I was going to kind of follow up cause I wanted

Marvin: to kind of dig a little bit deeper.

Marvin: Cause I think, you know, the, you know, being a caregiver or a support giver

Marvin: is a, is a very, uh, very demanding role.

Marvin: It's demanding on your time. It's demanding on your emotional energy.

Marvin: And I was kind of curious about, you know, Ian, what did you do for you to be

Marvin: able to have the stamina to be as supportive as you wanted to be?

Marvin: And, you know, what are your thoughts for other people, you know,

Marvin: whether it's addiction or taking care of an elderly parent or whatever it is

Marvin: about how to, you know, help, but without, you know, inadvertently destroying yourself?

Ian: Wow. That's a really good question. Um, yeah, and it's fair.

Ian: I may, I may be speak there.

Ian: You bring up a good point as far as like, say, say you're looking at it through

Ian: the lens of like someone who has to take care of an elderly parent.

Ian: And perhaps there, there are not a lot of resources that they can call upon

Ian: to help ease that burden.

Ian: I am will freely admit that I am lucky enough that I was able to share some

Ian: of the burden of mom's recovery, specifically with the family friends.

Ian: She mentioned we have a very close family friend. His name's Charles.

Ian: He helped when we put together our letters and took mom to rehab.

Ian: And he drove down there with me to where it was down in South Georgia.

Ian: Her brother as well came down there. And additionally, there were friends.

Ian: That is my answer is do not feel as though you have to shoulder the burden of

Ian: your loved one's recovery completely isolated because your loved one,

Ian: even though they've probably burned a few bridges at this point,

Ian: still has friends, still has family.

Ian: They still have people that love them. All of us do.

Ian: And if you go to those people and you explain that you are spearheading this

Ian: person's recovery, and that's basically a fair amount of what I did,

Ian: I'm taking an active role in it, but I need your help.

Ian: This isn't a one-man show. I need everybody that can jump in and let my mom

Ian: understand how much she's cared for, how much she needs to be healthy,

Ian: how much of a problem this is, and how much she needs to embrace recovery.

Ian: I need everybody to step up. And so many people came out of the woodwork to do so.

Ian: And I would sing their praises for the next 50 years because it's an integral

Ian: piece of how I was able to maintain it. Like you said, while keeping myself sane.

Ian: Yeah, that's huge. Calling upon the resources that you can.

Ian: And I would say if you cannot, because there are going to be those people,

Ian: They might be listening to this and they're like, you know what? I got nobody.

Ian: It's just me. I got to be my 80 year old dad's house every day.

Ian: And I got nothing else I can do, but be there every day.

Ian: I would encourage you to think practically with your time and understand that

Ian: there are ways for you to do things for your, your person, how you're taking

Ian: care of them that also benefit you.

Ian: I mean, um, I remember, God, this is getting deep in the cut here.

Ian: Um, but, uh, I remember I, I made mom read, uh, a book that I was like obsessed with.

Ian: I was reading it for like the third

Ian: time and mom was having trouble really focusing on a lot at this point.

Ian: Uh, cause she was deep in the throes of it. And I remember I laid in bed with

Ian: her and read it to her, um, like page by page and love that book.

Ian: I enjoyed being able to reread that book.

Ian: And also I think it helped mom immensely. So like, you gotta find a way to,

Ian: yeah, make it somewhat substantive for yourself as well.

Ian: But honestly, I wouldn't, we wouldn't be where we are if, um,

Ian: the people that love mom hadn't, hadn't stepped up and cowboyed up like they

Ian: did big, big love to everybody.

Marvin: Yeah. And I would also say too, you know, if you don't, you know,

Marvin: have someone or you feel like your network's not, you know, deep enough,

Marvin: there are support groups for, you know, whether you're taking care of elderly

Marvin: parents or you're, you know, you are the child of someone who's addicted.

Marvin: I mean, there are places that you can go to, you know, sit somewhere with other

Marvin: people that are struggling with the exact same things you're struggling with

Marvin: so that you don't feel like you're the only person in the world doing this.

Ian: Right huge call it yes encourage professional help a hundred percent because

Ian: they they are out there that's a great point.

Sylvia: Yeah al-anon is one al-anon is another good support system for those impacted

Sylvia: um you know by family or friends in recovery that's a good resource as well.

Marvin: And I have one last question before we really start talking about the fun stuff,

Marvin: talking about fly fishing, right?

Marvin: So, you know, I wanted to, you know, we've kind of talked about each of your paths.

Marvin: And I was just kind of curious if each of you, you know, Sylvia, why don't you go first?

Marvin: And you just kind of share, you know, what you think are some of the best ways

Marvin: for someone to support someone on their recovery journey.

Marvin: And then, you know, Ian, you can pick it up and then I promise you we'll start

Marvin: talking about fly fishing.

Sylvia: What? I, you know, I think what Ian said is, is just hits it to the heart.

Sylvia: And he said a couple of things that I haven't heard him say,

Sylvia: which, which really are very, it's emotional.

Sylvia: I think, you know, again, it's very difficult.

Sylvia: Difficult i i can see it

Sylvia: now that i'm in recovery and my

Sylvia: experience with recovery i lead a nursing group

Sylvia: a recovery nursing group i i stay involved in recovery through our non-profit

Sylvia: organization and i've had people come to me and say what's it like and i know

Sylvia: somebody you know one thing we have never i don't think i've met one person

Sylvia: that that i've talked to when i'm talking about

Sylvia: recovery that doesn't have somebody they know that's in recovery or going through it.

Sylvia: And, you know, the one thing I tell them, and it mirrors what Ian said,

Sylvia: is you have to set the boundary because, you know, addict, alcoholic,

Sylvia: we can be very, very manipulative.

Sylvia: We lie.

Sylvia: We do do anything when we're in addiction, in the throes of addiction.

Sylvia: And I think to support someone, you have to understand too that you can say

Sylvia: so many things like, you've got to get better, you've got to do this, you need to do this.

Sylvia: But until they get to the point where they want it, I think it's very difficult to start.

Sylvia: Like that person, you can only do so much as the person standing outside until

Sylvia: that person that you're trying to help is ready to get help,

Sylvia: is receptive and accept they're an alcoholic or they're an addict or that they

Sylvia: are ready. And that may be,

Sylvia: It is a different point for everybody, and it may be a long,

Sylvia: very, very long road until someone comes to that point.

Sylvia: Patience, listening, like Ian said, nonjudgmental. You have to be, I think.

Sylvia: And you just, but you also have to save yourself.

Sylvia: You have to realize I can only do so much from the outside and just be there

Sylvia: and offer resources, you know, professional resources and be there, too.

Sylvia: If you offer, I'll go to a meeting with you.

Sylvia: I had people that came to many meetings with me, my friend, my family.

Sylvia: It was it was a whole new world for them.

Sylvia: But they were very, you know, oh, this place is interesting.

Sylvia: You know, this AA meeting is really interesting.

Sylvia: But they came, they came and they sat through it with me and were there.

Sylvia: And at every anniversary, they're there.

Sylvia: And, you know, I think each, but you do have to protect yourself as well as

Sylvia: that caregiver, as that person who wants to help.

Sylvia: And keep trying. Don't give up. Keep trying because they just might not be ready yet.

Sylvia: And again, offer resources, you know, professional resources,

Sylvia: find resources for them, give them the resources and say, you know,

Sylvia: call this number, do this.

Sylvia: You can't do it for them. They have to do it.

Sylvia: But just being there, I think, is huge, huge. Yeah.

Marvin: It's interesting, you know, listening to you talk, it makes me think about,

Marvin: you know, the way I kind of talk

Marvin: to my boys about stuff and I'll tell them that I can't want it for them.

Marvin: But once they decide what they want to do or accomplish, that I will help them

Marvin: move heaven and earth to make that happen.

Sylvia: There you go. Exactly. Exactly. And I was very, very fortunate and blessed that

Sylvia: I do have those type of people in my life.

Sylvia: It made all the difference.

Marvin: And Ian, what are your thoughts?

Ian: Yeah mom kind of hit it um in

Ian: the vein of practical support like you can help someone with you know you could

Ian: think about maybe um practical assistance with like tasks or responsibilities

Ian: that might feel overwhelming for them but being there going to meetings i went

Ian: to plenty of meetings, uh,

Ian: with mom and similar to what she basically said, it was a new world for me.

Ian: It was something I was very uneducated around and I ended up educating myself

Ian: about the world of recovery, uh, through those meetings.

Ian: And then my own research, obviously it was not something that I had even dipped my toe in before.

Ian: And I would say that that's, that's a huge thing. educate

Ian: yourself even if you're not in recovery your

Ian: loved one is so understanding the systems

Ian: and the support groups that exist around it and the tenants of those systems

Ian: and support groups is huge because it will allow you to understand what they're

Ian: going through and also speak to it

Ian: intelligently um and to do things to recognize like we went to a meeting.

Ian: And a guy was there that was like seven days sober and everybody was like, congratulations.

Ian: It's huge. Amazing. And they were, they were clapping for him and stuff.

Ian: And I was like, uh, so we just to celebrate milestones, no matter the size,

Ian: because they're huge, no matter what.

Ian: And it was there that I started like really pushing to celebrate my mom's milestones

Ian: and her achievements, be it 30 days, 60 days, 90 days.

Ian: Now it's, she's crushing it and she's in the years now. And every year on her

Ian: sobriety date, we go out to dinner, just her and I, we talk a lot about her

Ian: journey. We kind of revisit some stuff.

Ian: And the first couple of years, it was heavy, but these days it's all smiles

Ian: with a dash of heavy. But you celebrate those milestones.

Ian: You celebrate the work that your loved one is putting into it. And that's huge.

Ian: I feel as though anybody, it doesn't matter if you are 75, you've been sober for three weeks.

Ian: If someone pats you on the back and they're like, hey, you're kicking ass,

Ian: pardon my language, that it's still going to go a long way.

Ian: People just want to understand that what they're doing is something to be proud

Ian: of. And that absolutely is.

Ian: Yeah. So mom kind of hit it, but I would really hammer home,

Ian: like don't treat it as something that they're going through and they're driving

Ian: in an F1 race and you're a big football fan.

Ian: So you're not going to bother tuning in. Like you need to understand what the

Ian: rules of the game are to properly help and support them.

Marvin: Yeah. And, you know, the interesting thing is, you know, you are the one that

Marvin: suggested fly fishing to your mother as part of her recovery.

Marvin: And so I don't think we talked about this on the pre-interview call,

Marvin: but you know, where did that come from?

Marvin: I don't know if you're like a lifelong angler or like you watch something on TV.

Ian: But, uh, no, uh, no, I am not a lifelong angler.

Ian: Um, I, I will be completely honest with you.

Ian: So mom, uh, she dragged me

Ian: fishing a lot when we were when i was a kid and

Ian: i was not a fan i didn't like fishing

Ian: like at all as a kid because i never caught anything

Ian: and uh i didn't like baiting the hook i

Ian: didn't like any of that um but i know mom i knew mom was i knew mom had been

Ian: fishing since she could hold a pole in her hand and she was uh you know just

Ian: a natural born angler and um the whole reason that i suggested vested fly fishing to her.

Ian: Is because I heard it was difficult. Like, I had heard that it was tough,

Ian: and I was like, this will take up plenty of time.

Ian: It's going to be something that'll just completely be tough to master.

Ian: She'll have to sink a bunch of hours into it, and it'll completely occupy her brain.

Ian: And boy, howdy, was I underestimating how hard she was going to go in the paint

Ian: for that particular piece.

Ian: Now now that i fly fish i know it's not as

Ian: difficult as i thought it was i just i

Ian: had heard it was tough so i was like yeah go try to fly fish go see how you

Ian: do over there uh and we'll we'll hopefully keep you occupied for a while but

Ian: uh that was the whole reason i heard it was tough and and she she saw that and

Ian: took that as a personal affront to her ability it seems.

Marvin: That's that's so funny because i mean that's basically kind of probably one

Marvin: of the major attractions to for fly fishing for me is that it soaks up all of

Marvin: that bandwidth and it's uh the other thing about it is for me it's it's a puzzle

Marvin: that i can't consistently solve because if i could i would get bored right yeah.

Sylvia: You're exactly right marvin you put that very well And Ian, yes,

Sylvia: he was, you know, he dropped that on me.

Sylvia: He's like, Mom, you should take up fly fishing.

Sylvia: And I was like, fly fishing? Wow. Bing.

Sylvia: And right off the bat, I thought, fly fishing? Where do you fly fish in Georgia?

Sylvia: And how do I get involved into women even fly fishing? Like,

Sylvia: I don't even know a woman who goes fly fishing.

Sylvia: And, yeah, he dropped that nugget on me, and I ran with it. I really did.

Sylvia: Ian, I always say fly fishing saved my life too.

Sylvia: And Ian basically saved my life with fly fishing.

Sylvia: But as soon as he said that, I jumped right into it.

Sylvia: I went on a Google search, found the Georgia women's fly fishing,

Sylvia: Georgia women's group here in Georgia, which is a phenomenal group for women

Sylvia: who are starting out fly fishing and met the most incredible women.

Sylvia: And the crazy thing was I was going to a nursing.

Sylvia: I was attending a nursing supporting support group for nurses and recovery.

Sylvia: And it was just a couple of days after Ian suggested fly fishing to me that

Sylvia: I went to my regular meeting and we were sitting around the nurses and they said,

Sylvia: everybody tell us something about something that you do in your spare time or what you enjoy doing.

Sylvia: And the lady who went before me happened to be one of the co-founders of Reeling

Sylvia: in Serenity who I'd never met, Jennifer Gilbert.

Sylvia: And she said, I fly fish. And it was like, what?

Sylvia: Here, Ian just mentioned this to me a couple of days ago.

Sylvia: And now someone in my support group says they go fly fishing and they're part

Sylvia: of Georgia Women's Fly Fakers.

Sylvia: It was like, you know, like one of those moments where, okay, this is meant to be.

Sylvia: And I started talking to Jen after the meeting and went to the first Georgia

Sylvia: Women's Fly Fishing meeting with her at the next meeting.

Sylvia: And from then on, just took their 101 fly fishing class, which I just loved.

Sylvia: And I knew it was going to be a lifelong journey for me, fly fishing,

Sylvia: just constant learning, constant challenge.

Sylvia: And it has been. It has been. But that, that got me started on fly fishing. It was all Ian, all Ian.

Sylvia: I couldn't be more grateful. I always say it's the best gift I've ever been

Sylvia: given. And Ian gave it to me.

Marvin: And, you know, it's kind of funny that we kind of were fishing for the same

Marvin: reason, but, you know, you know, this is really a question for both of you.

Marvin: You know, what is it that you think, you know, makes spending time on the water so healing? Yeah.

Sylvia: Wow. Ian, you want to go first?

Ian: Yeah. Yeah. God, there's tons of reasons, right?

Ian: I mean, I think it's getting more

Ian: and more attention these days as like a beneficial therapeutic activity.

Ian: But we've kind of touched on some of the reasons. I think you really said it best, Marvin.

Ian: It's a puzzle that you almost can't solve.

Ian: And if you were, you'd get bored with it.

Ian: There's easy to learn, difficult to master.

Ian: It teaches so much. Patience being the number one thing for me.

Ian: I mean, I've grown so much more patience just from my time on the water.

Ian: And for a long time, I've always practiced mindfulness meditation.

Ian: I think that it is a form of mindfulness meditation in its own right.

Ian: I also think one of the biggest things is it can be really enjoyed alone as

Ian: a solitary activity and with a group and the,

Ian: the social network around fly fishing is so strong.

Ian: I'm not sure what inherently draws such good people to the sport but i don't

Ian: think i've ever met another angler on the water that i haven't uh considered

Ian: to be the salt of the earth um,

Ian: yeah and uh additionally it really just kind of uh.

Ian: It fills your hours on the water with such a lovely sense of achievement,

Ian: whether even if you don't catch a fish for the day, the fact that you have mastered

Ian: a new technique or if you do catch your one fish,

Ian: it really is such a boost and reinforces a lot of like the positive behaviors

Ian: that are associated with recovery. Right.

Ian: Like, uh, you know, setting and achieving goals, boosting your own self-esteem.

Ian: Um, and yeah, really just, uh, it's such a healthy distraction from negative

Ian: thoughts and cravings probably.

Ian: Um, yeah, I, I definitely, uh, I can't, I cannot sing its praises enough.

Ian: Sorry. I went off on a exponential tangent there. Mom, please save me.

Sylvia: Ian you said it perfectly yeah i

Sylvia: am i think yeah p and what

Sylvia: ian said about i think you said it great that you can do it by yourself and

Sylvia: with a group it doesn't matter you still get so much out of it for me patience

Sylvia: was the biggest thing just teaching teaching myself to be patient with myself.

Sylvia: And also forgiveness. I've learned a lot about forgiveness.

Sylvia: That may sound weird, but forgiving myself if I mess something up or I,

Sylvia: you know, I have days when I'm just in the trees the whole time,

Sylvia: like just undoing knots and losing 25 flies.

Sylvia: And okay, so that day was not the best day, but that's okay.

Sylvia: I'm going to tackle it on my next trip.

Sylvia: But I also learned something every time, every time.

Sylvia: And I did it by myself for a long time.

Sylvia: When I first started fly fishing, I was so gung ho.

Sylvia: I, I went every, every spare moment I had.

Sylvia: And I went by myself because I wanted to, you know, master my cast and learn about the water.

Sylvia: And then I watched 900 YouTube videos, you know, I think we all do.

Sylvia: I sat on my couch and practiced knots, you know, that was Becca,

Sylvia: my dear friend, best friend, friend's advice, you know, just.

Sylvia: Watch YouTube videos and practice on the couch. I had line everywhere and not

Sylvia: so, you know, but it took up my time and Ian was right.

Sylvia: It took up my time and I, I just dove into it, but being on the water,

Sylvia: I've always loved water.

Sylvia: I fished all my life as Ian said, and I've always found peace on the water.

Sylvia: And that road to fly fishing took me back to where I used to be.

Sylvia: And I, I realized how much I enjoyed being on the water and how much I enjoyed

Sylvia: fishing and what it did for me.

Sylvia: Again, patience, forgiveness.

Sylvia: And I just agree 100% with me in the fly fishing community.

Sylvia: You included, Marvin. You know, we've just met so many people that are nonjudgmental,

Sylvia: are supportive. reported, don't,

Sylvia: you know, you can tell them whatever reason you came to fly fishing.

Sylvia: And believe me, I've heard so many, whether it's a personal trauma,

Sylvia: whether it's addiction, whether it's, you know, just a difficult time in their

Sylvia: life, they found fly fishing and it brought them peace.

Sylvia: You can just hear so many stories and reasons to what brought someone to fly fishing.

Sylvia: And it's just that peace and calm and disconnection from, you know,

Sylvia: the everyday pressures and work and all that other stuff.

Sylvia: You just you kind of lose that when you're on the water and you're focused.

Sylvia: And it's just there's nothing like it. There's nothing like it.

Marvin: Yeah. And I'm going to steal an eonism and, you know, talk about,

Marvin: you know, it's one thing to spend time on the water, but you went pretty hard

Marvin: in the paint and co-founded a not-for-profit, you know, with Becca Klein and

Marvin: other people. So, like, how do you make that jump, right?

Marvin: Because that's like a, that's another level of like, you know,

Marvin: craziness and fly fishing, right?

Sylvia: Yeah, you hit it right on the nose. Craziness is right. Right.

Sylvia: If anyone says to you, let's start a nonprofit, don't think it's easy.

Sylvia: But yeah, so my best friend, Becca Klein, we actually met through the Orvis

Sylvia: fly fishing classes that Orvis puts on.

Sylvia: And Becca was teaching one of those classes. And that's where Becca and I met

Sylvia: and became friends. And I found out she was in recovery.

Sylvia: I was in recovery. That drew us together.

Sylvia: And Becca, along with a lot of other people, I have heard talk about starting,

Sylvia: you know, a nonprofit where you can use fly fishing as healing for healing for

Sylvia: multiple things, trauma, addiction.

Sylvia: Addiction so it's not it wasn't necessarily

Sylvia: a new idea but Becca has she's

Sylvia: she's got gum she's she's got gumption and determination and drive and she said

Sylvia: let's do this and so we it was myself Becca Jennifer Gilbert and Ian the four

Sylvia: of us got together at my kitchen table and Becca's like like, let's do it.

Sylvia: Let's start this thing. And we were all like, okay, let's do it.

Sylvia: And so that's where it started a little over two years ago now.

Sylvia: And it was the four of us really just said, let's do it and started it.

Sylvia: Becca has a lot of experience.

Sylvia: She works for Drive-In Riverkeeper, has worked for them for many years.

Sylvia: So she has a lot of experience dealing with nonprofits.

Sylvia: So she guided us and gave us all tasks and jobs to do.

Sylvia: Ian's our IT man.

Sylvia: He's our webmaster. then is

Sylvia: our retreat coordinator and

Sylvia: i did a little bit of everything to help

Sylvia: support more administrative and finding

Sylvia: resources and we just kind

Sylvia: of said let's do it and so we started it it took a good year just to kind of

Sylvia: get us on the ground to file for our 501c3 um uh status uh classification like

Sylvia: it was it it was a lot of work um and then,

Sylvia: we started talking about doing the retreats um and and it's been it's been a

Sylvia: journey it's been a very very interesting journey but i'll let ian talk a little

Sylvia: bit about it as well as how we got that um that level.

Ian: Yeah no i mean just to

Ian: echo uh mom i mean i know that

Ian: the the true progenitor of

Ian: the idea was was becca she had

Ian: uh the she had wanted to do

Ian: something like this for a long time where it was fly fishing

Ian: is so inherently conducive to

Ian: recovery why not marry the two and it

Ian: really took us around that dining room table

Ian: that night i mean i remember the night vividly um

Ian: where she said guys i think you're the ones to do it and uh i think we can make

Ian: this happen and i did feel very much included uh due to my technical expertise

Ian: because they were like we'll need a website ian can handle that ian you can

Ian: do all all this stuff that we're we're talking

Ian: about right now and it did end up coming to

Ian: pass as such but you know mom is correct

Ian: in that it took us a little while to get our

Ian: feet underneath this um because it was a it was a great idea uh but in other

Ian: ways it was a harebrained scheme where we had no idea what we were doing we

Ian: had becca who had some um experience in the non-profit industry and luckily

Ian: had some some connections and some contacts.

Ian: And also could offer some light around how you become a 501c3.

Ian: And then what legal roads you need to tread to host things like retreats and

Ian: make sure that your insurance liability is taken care of.

Ian: And if you are going to accept donations, how do you go about it?

Ian: How do you do it properly? So.

Ian: There was a lot of fathoming it out in that first year and we've all grown so

Ian: much. And now we know it like the back of our hands.

Ian: But it really has been quite a journey to get where we are today because these

Ian: days, I mean, I won't say like we've completely gone gangbusters, but we have a following.

Ian: We're putting on some amazing events and it's honestly just a trip to go.

Ian: And I just guided, uh, at a retreat weekend before last.

Ian: And I still, I almost can't even believe it, how it affects some people that show up.

Ian: And, you know, a lot of times the meetings that we held, people are moved to

Ian: tears because it's, it's so, it's just so powerful.

Ian: Um, but yeah, no, sorry. I hope that answers the question.

Marvin: No, no, it's, I mean, it's an interesting thing. I mean, you know,

Marvin: it's, I think in talking about the guiding thing,

Marvin: I think, you know, it's an incredibly powerful thing

Marvin: to help other people right not because it's

Marvin: being good but like i don't know like i know you know

Marvin: ian for me you know when i'm stressed out or really bothered i generally try

Marvin: to not even i try to stop thinking about myself and just go help somebody right

Marvin: and it is a powerful thing to see you know and i think you know as human beings

Marvin: the most generous thing we can give is our time right so you know just to be

Marvin: there on the water with other people or whatever it is.

Marvin: Um, you know, I think, uh, I think it's an amazing thing, but yeah,

Marvin: it's interesting hearing you guys talk about starting it up, right.

Marvin: Cause you have all this energy and you've got to put all that energy into the flux capacitor.

Ian: Yes.

Sylvia: Yeah.

Ian: Right.

Marvin: And make it work. But, you know, I know you guys do retreats,

Marvin: but talk a little bit about, um, you know, how reeling and serenity supports people in recovery.

Sylvia: So our retreat, um, we, We have the participants.

Sylvia: I think you had asked before, too, like what what you have, how can you participate

Sylvia: and how can you join or, you know, take part in the retreat?

Sylvia: So our retreats are for people who are in active recovery from substance abuse, men and women.

Sylvia: And we do have a requirement that you have to be in recovery for a minimum of

Sylvia: 30 days or have at least a sponsor support group that you are in active recovery,

Sylvia: whether you're in a sober living, anything like that.

Sylvia: And one of the reasons is because when you're in early recovery,

Sylvia: a lot of things can happen, you know, health-wise.

Sylvia: So we make that one of our key things.

Sylvia: Guidelines for being able to participate in the retreat.

Sylvia: But as long as you meet those classifications, because we are not like a recovery center,

Sylvia: we're there to offer support and to share fly fishing as a way to bring you

Sylvia: some peace or something that you can do that is healthy once you are in recovery.

Sylvia: So for participants, we are

Sylvia: open for participants who meet those those

Sylvia: classifications and then as a volunteer

Sylvia: really the biggest thing is being able

Sylvia: to relate to someone who's in recovery you don't have to be a professional guide

Sylvia: to to be a guide on the water with a participant in our retreat but you have

Sylvia: to be able to at least talk to someone because the key thing for our retreats

Sylvia: is when you're on the water and you have a guide with you.

Sylvia: We kind of want you talking about your recovery and learning,

Sylvia: you know, fly fishing as well, which is huge, but also being able to talk to

Sylvia: that person about the journey that you've had.

Sylvia: And we've been so fortunate. All our volunteers and guides are wonderful about that.

Sylvia: And you don't have to be in recovery to be a volunteer for Reeling in Serenity.

Sylvia: We just ask that you know

Sylvia: for the most part everyone who's involved in our wonderful board

Sylvia: of directors we have a phenomenal board they

Sylvia: all are not in recovery but they have been exposed to someone who is in recovery

Sylvia: whether it's a friend a family member and they're very passionate about the

Sylvia: project itself and you know it's not easy to volunteer your time we don't work strictly nonprofit.

Sylvia: We don't get salaries, anything. Everything is on our spare time.

Sylvia: So it can be a little bit, you know, some work, but we all share it and we just have a phenomenal team.

Sylvia: But we also give resources to our participants.

Sylvia: Jennifer Gilbert made a booklet that we hand out to all our participants with

Sylvia: resources that they can reach out to.

Sylvia: We also have started an online line meeting, which has gone gangbusters.

Sylvia: We just had our first meeting a couple of weeks ago. And.

Sylvia: Let me just mention our additional staff real quick. We have Georgia Skuza,

Sylvia: who does our social media.

Sylvia: We have Will Henry, who is one of our coordinators, who also works on support

Sylvia: and is working on a host manual for us.

Sylvia: And then Jen, myself, Ian, and then our board of directors.

Sylvia: And then we have other volunteers who help us as well, Jamie Eisenberg and Jim

Sylvia: McLean, who's part of TU Trout Unlimited, that have also joined us to help support others in recovery.

Sylvia: One of the other things we do is we do monthly outings, monthly fishing outings

Sylvia: that we just started for people in recovery who want to come join us to fish.

Sylvia: And then we also have a Facebook page where we also have a group where you can

Sylvia: just comment and talk about recovery.

Sylvia: And then our online meetings, as I said, we just started those and we've had a huge response to that.

Sylvia: A lot of people who may not be able to attend a retreat, but want to talk about

Sylvia: recovery and fly fishing.

Sylvia: So that's another way that we're trying to support people in recovery.

Sylvia: And we hope within the next year to have our host manual available so that others

Sylvia: in different states can host a retreat and we give them the blueprint for doing

Sylvia: that so that we don't necessarily have to have a staff member there. So we're.

Sylvia: We support it in the sense that we're there to kind of help you start to do

Sylvia: something healthy for yourself and help you find peace, hopefully through fly fishing.

Sylvia: That's really our goal.

Marvin: Yeah. And it's interesting, too, because I know you've gotten support from a

Marvin: lot of great people in the fly fishing community.

Marvin: You know, gosh, I mean, you know the list way better than I can.

Marvin: But I know, for example, like Jimmy Harris at Unicoi. And I know that alcoholism

Marvin: touched his life. We talked about it when I interviewed him.

Marvin: But, you know, if you could kind of share with folks, you know,

Marvin: some of the brands, shops and people that have been incredibly supportive of your organization.

Sylvia: Wow. We have been so fortunate. And I always think back to, I would encourage

Sylvia: everybody to go to our website, reelinginserenity.org.

Sylvia: And if you look at the staff and our bios, they're very short.

Sylvia: But um the one

Sylvia: that always touches me is ian because he mentions

Sylvia: in his bio just the support from the fly fishing community um and the support

Sylvia: that you know they've given us and again i'll just say the fly fish community

Sylvia: has been just incredible incredible we have had such great support jimmy Harris,

Sylvia: Uniqlo Outfitters, has been phenomenal.

Sylvia: He has supported us. He supports Becca in every step that we have done.

Sylvia: He has just been unbelievable.

Sylvia: And also in hosting retreats, sharing his water with us, letting us use it to have retreats.

Sylvia: And then also Scott Lowe at Hatch Camp and Art Farm in Clayton,

Sylvia: Georgia, where we just had our last retreat.

Sylvia: He's hosted a retreat two years in a row.

Sylvia: And, you know, we kind of look at it like,

Sylvia: They could be making money that day, you know, and they're giving that up for

Sylvia: us, you know, to provide a place for us to have a retreat for the whole day.

Sylvia: And we've just had phenomenal support.

Sylvia: Also, River's Edge on the Soqui, Tammy Harris also has, you know, hosted retreats for us.

Sylvia: Our first retreat was hosted at the River's Edge on the Soqui.

Sylvia: That was phenomenal. She's always gracious with her time, the water,

Sylvia: anything we need, she's there.

Sylvia: We have had Israel Patterson from Uniquay Outfitters has been our photographer

Sylvia: for events, also our videographer.

Sylvia: He gives his time and expertise.

Sylvia: We also now have kind of expanded because we have a retreat coming up in Montana this year.

Sylvia: The 320 Guest Ranch in Montana is hosting a retreat.

Sylvia: They're giving their time and resources for the

Sylvia: day um we've had um we've

Sylvia: just it's it's been phenomenal the list goes on katie kahn just volunteered

Sylvia: to to be a photographer at our last retreat um we it's just amazing the support

Sylvia: we've had just amazing the list the list is long yeah and.

Marvin: You know you want to kind of i know you kind of touched on some and i know you've

Marvin: got a big event? Because Ian and I talked about it the last time we spoke.

Marvin: You want to kind of maybe give us maybe the next kind of three or four upcoming

Marvin: events you guys have going on that people can be on the lookout for?

Sylvia: Sure. So we did have a retreat in Pennsylvania. We did have to postpone it because of the weather.

Sylvia: It was not cooperating and the water levels were extremely high and unsafe.

Sylvia: So we have the retreat in Pennsylvania. That's going to be at the Delaware Wear River Club.

Sylvia: So we're going to set a new date for that.

Sylvia: So keep an eye on our website for the new date.

Sylvia: We also have one coming up in October in North Carolina, and that will be on the Mills River.

Sylvia: We have DB Bar D Outfitters. They're hosting that retreat for us.

Sylvia: And Zach Davis, us. One of our board members is organizing that with me.

Sylvia: And Zach is one of our board members, like I said, extremely supportive and

Sylvia: ready to help and ready to organize that retreat.

Sylvia: Then we also have a retreat coming up in September, like I said,

Sylvia: in Montana, which will be our first in Montana at the 320 Guest Ranch.

Sylvia: Then we have another retreat in Colorado. One of our board members,

Sylvia: John Eatston, who is a new board member, he is hosting that retreat.

Sylvia: It's going going to be at the able rant lake george colorado and that's coming

Sylvia: up august 18th and let's see did i miss anything no.

Ian: I think you hit them all yeah.

Marvin: Yeah but you're also you've got an auction coming up right.

Ian: Yeah. And I would call out that, um, obviously that's another big thing of the

Ian: phenomenal people who stepped up to support us is last year we,

Ian: we hosted our first silent auction and we,

Ian: we auctioned off some really amazing stuff from a lot of people that donated

Ian: to help support the cause.

Ian: I mean, we had fishing trips up there. You could bid on, um,

Ian: that were, it was all over the place from, I think, all the way in California,

Ian: all the way here in Georgia.

Ian: So the entirety of the contiguous United States covered as far as fishing for

Ian: sharks down in Florida or fishing for tarpon or fishing up in Oregon for trout.

Ian: And then there was all sorts of stuff for like rod holders and paintings of

Ian: fish and stuff like that.

Ian: We had some really cool stuff and we're doing it again this year.

Ian: We've already got some really amazing stuff donated, some great trips, some great gear.

Ian: Reels rods the usual suspects as well some interesting

Ian: stuff uh you know pairing knives and flies

Ian: and all sorts of amazing stuff so uh we

Ian: do have that auction coming up and i mean i'll be

Ian: honest there were some killer deals that people got

Ian: away with last year like as far as what they walked away with versus what they

Ian: bid um so i will i will we will obviously post it on the website it'll be part

Ian: of the newsletter and uh yeah and when it goes live i highly recommend dropping

Ian: a a few lowball bids to see if you can get away with murder on some of these trips.

Marvin: Yeah. So two follow-up questions there.

Marvin: Obviously, I'm sure you're collecting things for this upcoming auction.

Marvin: So one, how should people reach out if they have something that they want to donate?

Marvin: And two, as my grandmother used to always say, she would give me a check for

Marvin: my birthday, and she'd say, always the right size and always the right color.

Marvin: If people don't have something that they can donate, but they want to give you

Marvin: some money or their time, how should they get in touch?

Ian: Great question. You can do it all through our website or obviously any of the social media channels.

Ian: If you want to reach out to us via Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn,

Ian: even, we're on everything.

Ian: But the website is the biggest piece. We have a catch-all email address there

Ian: on the website, info at reelinginserenity.org, if you have something that you

Ian: want to ask us before you donate.

Ian: But right at the top of the page on our main website is

Ian: a donate now button that'll take you to a page where

Ian: you can either donate monetarily or for an item if you would like to donate

Ian: to something for the auction um and then yeah if you have any questions you

Ian: know you can email us ping us via a direct message um we are open and we get

Ian: all sorts of inquiries from all shades and And all four of us,

Ian: the main staff members, myself,

Ian: my mom, Jennifer, and William and Georgia as well, actually, we man the pages.

Ian: So we're all the ones responding to you at any given time. Everybody sees them come in.

Marvin: Got it. Well, listen, Sylvia and Ian, I really appreciate you spending some

Marvin: time with me this evening and particularly sharing a really personal story.

Marvin: And it's really special. Marshall, I appreciate you letting me share that experience with you.

Marvin: And, you know, hopefully I'll get to spend some time on the water with you guys soon. Take care.

Sylvia: Yes, we hope so. Thank you, Marvin. Appreciate it.

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