Pondoff's Anonymous Season 3 Episode 26: "The Groceries That Saved My Life" featuring Ricky Stewart

This week, Chris, KG, and Zoë sit down with Ricky Stewart, Director of Hilljack House and former Illinois Recovery Center case manager, for an honest conversation about addiction, identity, and the long road to recovery.Ricky shares what it was like growing up as the youngest of five—and an identical twin—in a home that looked stable from the outside but was filled with chaos behind closed doors. He opens up about his introduction to heroin, thirty treatment centers, relapse after four years of sobriety, and the moments that nearly convinced him to give up.The conversation explores sober living, fatherhood, pornography addiction, mental health, shame, grace, sponsorship, and the people who kept showing up even when Ricky couldn't answer the door. It's a powerful reminder that recovery isn't about becoming perfect—it's about staying connected when everything inside you tells you to isolate.There are plenty of laughs mixed in, because that's how life works. Even in the middle of the hardest stories, hope has a way of finding its way into the room.