Hola Sober | Issue NO. 20
When I asked Seamus what had he seen in Ed early on, he answered me simply, "I saw myself." He saw himself arriving at his first meeting in The Little Brown Church . where he too was defensive with a don't talk to-me- attitude. Ed had the same gate about him, telling the universe to back off as his plan was to check in, listen, get cured, and move on. Seamus has seen so very many walk into meetings desperately wanting to stop but not wanting to do the work, surrender to the philosophy or attend meetings that he was unfazed by Ed's presentation. Seamus took it gently to him but inevitably if you want to work the 12-Step Program successfully, you must get a sponsor, and in the end, it was agreed Seamus would be his ' temporary ' sponsor, a role, he cherishes to this day. What I think is also a crucial piece to their story was that when Ed lost his job, it was Seamus and his sober buddies who were constant. All the women in the room that first week after it hit the headlines, were kind and supportive and something fundamentally shifted for Ed that night. He was no longer a passenger in some ways to his own recovery - he was now all in and today his sobriety is core to who he is and of that, he feels good. I wanted you as readers to meet some of the sober men in my life who found a different pathway to their recovery than I did. Where Presidents walked, grace was found, and in there lies the magic of the universe when we are open to admitting our problems, seeking help, and going to a meeting if that is what we need to do. Like all good stories, it starts with the line, one night an Irish man walked into a church (not a bar), and passed a white picket fence that had seen another Irish man walk into a church to take a bride. They both said " I do" in a manner of speaking, changing their lives and the futures of their family for generations to come. In finding grace Seamus was led to Ed who had as a young boy contemplated becoming a priest who in turn had been introduced to me by another sober friend and for that, I am truly grateful. I figure there will be a lot more from these two sober men in my life in 2023. Happy Thanksgiving readers ❤️
Recently I spent the evening (on zoom) with my favourite Philadelphian and friend, Ed Glavin. He is of solid Irish American stock with Cork roots and as our grandmothers shared a common surname (O'Connell) we figure we must be related in some way. He has nine years in the sober game and wanted to introduce me to Seamus Kennedy who has been his 'temporary ' sponsor for the duration. Kennedy, a UCD-Graduate in Engineering, has spent the last forty years enjoying the California sunshine. He is both an engineer and a publican which is hardly the greatest profession for a man in sobriety but the day-2-day running of Ireland 32, is in the safe capable hands of his family. " You need to be some drunk to get banned from an Irish pub, and one that you own at that," Seamus tells me, which gives me some indication of the dark roads that alcohol took the lovely Seamus. Both of these men understand, not everyone gets to walk into a meeting, shake the hand of grace and rebuild their life. "I walked in to my first meeting in a swamp of all things alcoholism." Seamus recalls. Ed credits Seamus with so much on his journey knowing that having him in his corner was a sure-fire way of at least giving himself a decent shot at sobriety. We all know sponsors can sometimes be difficult, dogmatic individuals who often fail to understand their Sponsee. Seamus with years in the rooms knew Ed's type not caring who he was or where he worked and better still, he didn't know a blind thing about 'the industry'. At the time Ed was busy working in the industry with multiple awards under his belt. More often than not, people danced to his drumbeat but this is part of the magic of A.A. - who you are outside of that door is utterly meaningless., there is only one 12-step-drumbeat in the room and it is the same for everyone.
Hola Sober | Madrid
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