HERE’S TO YOUR HEALTH
This week’s Here’s To Your Health is a continuation of Keith L’s story.
When our train arrived at Yemeni, South Carolina there was a rude man who greeted us and he started yelling obscenities at us. I said, “Listen Pal, if you treat us with more respect you’ll get a lot more out of us.” They say we learn from our experiences and what I learned from that one was that you can do a lot of push-ups drunk and you can even do them while you puke; I’m glad I wasn’t doing sit-ups.
The next morning they loaded us on a bus and took us to Paris Island and I fell in love with the Marine Corp. because, it was the first time in my life, I knew exactly what was expected of me; they clearly explained it. I made up my mind if they would let me; I’d spend the next hundred years in the Marine Corps.
When I look back at that experience it’s absolutely amazing the people God put in my life. I went through ten weeks of a 13-week training mission and then developed kidney problems so the night before they sent me to the hospital my drill sergeant called me in to his hut and said, “Son, do you have any questions?” I said, “Sir, am I making it?” He said, “Yes, you’re more than making it and you will be an extraordinary Marine. I ended up in three different Navy hospitals, and although I was offered a medical discharge I turned it down because of the message that man gave me.
I went back to Paris Island and when I came off that island I’d won the outstanding Marine and dress blues award. My father rode 24 hours on a bus to be at my graduation, and I still have a picture of us standing next to the colonel under the words, “Little Marine, Big Heart.” I had a brother, Denny and a sister, Patty who were doing well in college and my father said to me, “If you put this kind of effort into a college education you will be a straight “A” student.
I took what he said as a put down and nothing could’ve been further from the truth, but that’s what a fear driven guy is all about; we misinterpret people.
In hindsight I clearly see that I misunderstood almost every thing that ever happened in my life. Every promotion came hard for me and it took a lot of work to finally get a commission. The lieutenant who inspired me to attend officer’s candidate school was a Notre Dame graduate who retired a colonel from the Marine Corp. He now lives in South Bend, IN and last year I sent him my 32-year token. I also send tokens to brothers and sisters and other people who helped me get where I am today. Last year I wrote a note of thanks and sent it with a token to my sister Patty, who’s a nurse two years older than me.
Once I came home when I was one hundred days sober, Patty was taking my mother to midnight mass at the hospital where she worked and when she saw I was sober, she burst into tears and threw her arms around me, and said, “My prayers have been answered. You’re sober.” Patty called after I sent her that note and said, “It is I who should be thanking you because my daughter just celebrated five years of sobriety because her uncle Keith showed her it’s possible.”
I also sent one to my brother Denny who lives in California. He’s a prince of a man, so supportive and he’s just tremendous.
And, I send one to a man who’s a priest at Xavier University in Cincinnati, OH. He’s the wonderful man who I worked for when I first got sober.
Before my parents died, I sent tokens to them too because they blamed themselves for my alcoholism and so I wanted them to take credit for my sobriety. When my mother died, one thing she wanted in her coffin was the 23-year token I’d sent her. She loved it and she was profoundly grateful that I was sober. To be continued…
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