Be Your Own Best Friend
I received the news today that Frank Brennan passed away last night.
Frank was 80-something years old. In his younger days he was a knock-down brawling blackout drunk in the Marina. Those were the days when the Marina was a tough neighborhood filled with teamsters and longshoremen, not a yuppie neighborhood filled with frappuccino-swilling cellphone symbiotes and joggers with boobjobs.
I used to see him around a lot, and he’d always greet people with his line: “be your own best friend.” He always had a pack of young women around him. I never saw him when he wasn’t wearing a tweed three-piece suit and a matching cap.
I hear talk about “old-timers” in A.A. being harsh and cruel, or shouting and strict. Frank showed the lie to this myth with his kind demeanor and his willingness to spend time with a newcomer.
Frank died with 57 years of sobriety.
It’s great to know men and
It’s great to know men and women like that. Fond memories. I think I learned more in the 6 months I went with my dad to his AA meetings, than I did in most of my life. Mostly from the men and women who were living day by day, taking life one step at a time, working their program. The thing I took away most from those meetings was that they were real people, dealing with real life. No fluff. And they accepted one another just as they were, but they held each other accountable. After those 6 months of AA as a guest to my dad, “supporting” him, I think I walked away with more wisdom and wealth than most people can gather in a lifetime. I miss AA. Funny how life works that way.
57 years of sobriety…wow, I can’t imagine 57 years of anything.