Category: Grateful Heart Monday

Welcome to another chapter of Grateful Heart Monday, where gratitude continues to be the only focus of my writing, which for today is for all the 12 Step sponsors out there who freely have given their time to help in another person’s recovery from addiction.

I can’t stress enough how much sponsorship has saved my own life thus far. From my very first sponsor, Lorraine, to my present sponsor, Jackie, and all those in between, I’ve learned so much valuable instruction and priceless life lessons to help me remain clean and sober from a number of addictions.

Having a sponsor is so important to the 12 Step path of recovery from addiction. I went many years without one to realize this, bouncing one idea after another, tons of issues, and all sorts of craziness off of myself, taking advice from my own ego, the results of which were often disastrous.

When Lorraine taught me the steps and guided me through the entire process long ago, there were plenty of times I wanted to give up. But, she was such a great sponsor who always knew the right things to say to help keep me going. She was the loving mother I never had for much of our time together. And with every subsequent sponsor I had after she passed, I gained new insight and precious guidance into my sobriety and my spiritual journey.

Many who have been sober for long periods of time will tell you the great gift that comes with sponsorship of another. For as much as there is often heartache in sponsoring another, there are also countless triumphs and celebrations to be had all while watching the growth of a sponsee. What’s involved in sponsorship is simply having a giving heart and the donating of one’s time all for the sake to help another learn how to remain clean and sober.

Presently, I meet with my current sponsor Jackie once a week for both an hour AA meeting and a lunch afterwards and I truly treasure every one of those moments I have with her. As it’s in those moments where I not only feel the love and fellowship of 12 Step recovery, but also learn a lot more about how to navigate through the murky waters of life as a recovering addict.

As I mentioned, sponsoring others isn’t always easy and I most certainly know of the pain and hardship I’ve caused plenty who’ve sponsored me over the years, just as much as I’ve known of the same that’s happened with individuals who’ve dedicated countless hours of their free time towards being a sponsor to another. It can often be a thankless job, but in the end, I tend to believe that 12 Step recovery continues to grow year after year around the world, solely because of those who continue to put time aside week after week via phone calls, meetings, and more, to be a sponsor to another in recovery from addiction.

That’s why today’s Grateful Heart Monday is solely dedicated to Lorraine, Brian, Karin, Lisa, Lionel, Lou, Carl, Anthony, Fran, Jackie, and everyone else out there in the 12 Step recovery world who have ever taken the invaluable step to sponsoring another soul, as its each of you who have truly made a difference in countless lives, including myself, and continue to do so every single day, one day at a time…

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson

Welcome to another Grateful Heart Monday, a time I always reflect in writing on a piece of gratitude from my life, which for today is for my sister Laura’s recent visit to Toledo to spend a few days with me during the 2020 holiday season.

While it’s not often I get to see my sister, as she lives an exceptionally busy life, any time I do get to spend with her in person is something to be truly grateful in of itself. That being said, the last time I got to see her either on a visit to her in Summerville, SC, or to me here in Toledo, was all the way back in October of 2019 when I took a five-day vacation there. So, it’s been a good bit since we last spent any time together in person and thus made her visit over the December 10-14 weekend all the more special.

It’s probably why when she walked through those security doors in the baggage claim area in Detroit Metropolitan Airport on the night of her arrival, I was so excited that I gave her the biggest hug I could and that alone made me feel so very grateful! Our first night was a quick one though, as the only thing we did was dine on our favorite pizza here in Toledo from a place called Mama Mary’s. They’re the only one who serves pizza just like what we grew up with in New York and boy was it tasty for the both of us. We also enjoyed a piece of chocolate mint pie from Mayberry Diner before calling it a night.

The gratitude for her visit began to grow the next day when the weather remained decent for our afternoon trip to the Toledo Zoo. There we saw a number of the animals we both really like including some giraffes, big cats, and a polar bear. We also liked seeing the zoo’s huge holiday light festival at dusk before we left. Later that evening, my partner Chris made one of my sister and I’s favorite childhood dishes for us, that being a Mexican Tamale casserole, along with some homemade cornbread and fresh green beans. It was most certainly a delectable meal, which my sister appreciated immensely, especially when Chris surprised her with a dessert to end it with from a recipe she had seen on his social media weeks prior, that being these mini peanut butter crème pies. The night ended with all of us streaming an interesting movie on HBO Max titled The Witches.

I think the highlight of my sister’s trip here though came the next day when the two of us went to the Toledo Museum of Art together. It was nice to have those few hours with just her and me there walking around looking at all those amazing works of art and discussing each. The one that took our breath away the most was the thing we did when we first arrived, which was a limited exhibit there for only a few weeks more that was called Fireflies. It blew both of our minds away, as it was a very immersive piece of art that words really can’t describe and just has to be experienced! Later that night after a slight rest, Laura took Chris and I out to dinner to a wonderful gem of a restaurant here called Rosie’s Italian Kitchen. It’s one of my favorites for Italian fare and each of us absolutely loved our meals, our waitress named Janae, and the conversations and laughter we shared while we dined. Our evening continued after that with a drive down to the Milton/Weston vicinity where my friend Kelly and her husband Laron have a very incredible Christmas display that seems to grow bigger every single year. We were all thankful when Kelly and Laron allowed us to sit in their driveway and chat with them while we watched the synchronized show for a good bit of time. Trust me, it’s well worth the drive! When we finally returned home, we finished the evening out streaming another movie on HBO Max titled Downhill that had some pretty funny moments.

On Laura’s final day with me, we took a drive to Westlake, Ohio for a meal at the Cheesecake Factory. It’s one of her favorite restaurants, which unfortunately she doesn’t get to have very often as there isn’t one anywhere near her home. We had such a great meal and I think I was most happy with it because they had her favorite cheesecake available, a limited holiday one, Peppermint Bark! I also enjoyed walking around the shopping center there prior to the meal and after, experiencing some of the Christmas spirit with her, as it’s been many years since we spent any time together during a holiday season. Our night finished out with playing some new games that were pretty darn funny. One was called Exploding Cats and the other, Joking Hazard. I highly recommend either for entertainment purposes!

Parting is sweet sorrow though, as my sister’s trip came to an end the next morning. I was quite sad knowing it will be a good while until I get to see her again. It’s always hard to open my heart as much as I do during these visits with my only remaining family, but of course it’s well worth it, as evident by the many great memories I now have from another wonderful time with my sister Laura who means the world to me, and whom I’m very grateful took time out of her busy life to come see me during this 2020 holiday season.

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson

Welcome to another Grateful Heart Monday entry full of gratitude for someone or something from my life that’s truly touched my heart and soul! For today, it’s for landing another volunteer opportunity in my 12 Step recovery and for the friend in my 12 Step circles who made that happen.

I’ve come to learn over the many years I’ve remained clean and sober from alcohol and drugs and a number of other addictions as well that all the craziness in the outer world around me and all the craziness I feel in my frequently squirrely brain can be easily tamed by helping another. My greatest joy in life today actually and quite possibly the only joy I truly feel I have in life right now is when I’m helping another, which seems to be primarily focused in my 12 Step recovery realms presently.

Since COVID hit, many of those opportunities were severely restricted or eliminated altogether for me, which left me feeling quite despondent and sometimes even purposeless. Beyond my weekly commitment I still have at Rescue Crisis, I had a bunch of other ones that had kept me going, including a weekly one at a local jail, a quarterly one at two Greek organizations at the University of Toledo (UT), and a bi-weekly one for multiple nursing classes also at UT. Unfortunately, COVID greatly affected them, leaving me with far less time engaging in the one thing that has blessed my life more than anything, helping another suffering soul, especially from addiction.

Enter in my friend Jeff A., someone I’ve come to know quite well in my recovery circles here in Toledo over the years and now consider one of my trusted friends. Recently, when he became employed at a placed named Midwest Detox Center, one of the newer locations here in Toledo for addiction help, he asked if I wanted to do a lead for one of his groups one day soon. Of course, knowing how much opportunities like this strongly motivate not only my own recovery, but also my life in general, I said absolutely. That opportunity came to fruition shortly after that, on the last Monday in November.

I spoke in front of approximately 58 clients and several counselors that day, which was very well received with plenty of applause by the end. A number of the clients came up to me afterwards and thanked me profusely for reinvigorating their desire for recovery. Each felt I had connected directly to their heart, which I was quite grateful to hear. But, my biggest piece of gratitude that day actually wasn’t from all those accolades I received, because frankly, I feel God is far worthier and deserving of those than I, since it was He who’s guided me through it all over the years. Rather, the biggest thing I was grateful for was when I was asked if I’d be open to doing a recovery lead on a repeating basis there. I, of course, agreed immediately and settled on monthly rotation, given the rotation of clients there was about the same amount of time.

So, beginning in December, on the last Monday of the month and subsequently on every month moving forward, I will now have a new 12 Step recovery commitment to look forward to doing for an entirely new batch of individuals who might be seeking experience, strength, and hope from another to motivate their own journey to sobriety and recovery. I’m more than grateful to do this and for any time I’m ever able to get recovery commitments like this. It’s something I really do look forward to doing in my life these days, as I clearly remember when I never helped anyone but myself, and suffered immensely because of it.

That’s why I’m incredibly thankful today and dedicating today’s Grateful Heart Monday entry to Jeff A. and the Midwest Detox Center for providing me a new 12 Step recovery commitment in my life that I’m sure will continue to provide me plenty of joy in doing and hopefully help many others in the process on their own journeys to healing from addiction.

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson