A CHAMPION OF ‘SECOND CHANCE’
Mayor Martin J. Walsh came out with a powerful opener when he took the stage at the Democratic National Convention. “My name is Marty Walsh,” he said last night, “and I’m an alco-holic.” For a politician on national TV, and for anyone touched by alcoholism or substance abuse — and there are many — it was a brave and inspiring move.
“On April 23, 1995, I hit rock bottom. I woke up with little memory of the night before and even less hope for the days to come. Everybody was losing faith in me — everybody except my family and the
labor movement,” Walsh said. When he was 18, Walsh said, he followed his father into the building trades. “Labor gave my immigrant family a chance,” he said. “And the labor community got me the help I needed and gave me a second chance. “Eighteen years later, I became the mayor of Boston, a city of big dreams and a big heart. As mayor, I work to get everyone a fair shot and a second chance, whether it’s apprenticeships, free community college or help starting a business.” He called Hillary Clinton the “champion American workers need.” Walsh didn’t go into detail about his road to recovery last night but I was at a Pine Street Inn graduation two years ago when he did. Walsh told graduates he’d taken a construction job one summer during high school. He didn’t really like the work but he “kind of liked the idea at lunch time of going across the street for a beer.”
Later, Walsh quit college to work in construction because he wanted to make money.
“My journey’s different than a lot of your journeys, but it’s similar, because somewhere along the line when I thought I was having fun with life, my fun of going out and partying turned to sadness, a pit in my stomach, desperation, not understanding where I was going to go,” he said at the time.
Walsh hit rock bottom after a weekend of binge drinking and blackouts. “I remember waking up in that apartment with a gut feeling inside, not knowing what to do. I wanted to jump out the window but I didn’t have the courage to jump out the window. ... And I knew what the problem was — the problem was I couldn’t stop drinking.”
Walsh went to rehab and got sober.
He told the graduates: “I live my life a day at a time.”
It was a powerful message then — and now.