[Magdalen] 30 Years of Sobriety.

[Mahoney, W. Michael]

On Fri, Dec 26, 2014 at 11:02 AM, Cantor03--- via Magdalen <
magdalen at herberthouse.org> wrote:

> December 27, 1984, I entered the diocesan committee room in the
> Eau Claire Diocesan Offices just next to Christ Church Cathedral in
> that City.
>

It will be 22 years for me January 6th.

I had more or less staged my own personal intervention following my
Cursillo "Weekend".  After some discussion with my wife, I had then
volunteered for an experimental treatment program at the National
Institutes of Health.  And so, after attending Epiphany services on January
6th 1992, I went home and drank up most of the alcohol that was still in
the house and that was it.

The next morning my wife drove me to what we learned was named the Warren
G. Magnuson Clinics in Bethesda, Maryland.  There is considerable irony in
this because Magnuson, a former Senator,had his name on the marquee not
because he was an alcoholic (which he very much was) but because he had
been responsible for pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into into NIH
over and above what various Administrations had wanted.  Bette and I were
still laughing when we said good-bye.

Three weeks later, I was discharged.  My history is a bit unusual in that
we keep alcohol in the house and serve it to guests.  I will take a sip of
wine if a table mate says it is especially good or a sip of champagne for a
toast.  I receive Communion in both kinds.  Other than that, I do not
"drink".

Like David, however, I am very grateful for the events and people who
helped when help was necessary.

Mike M.