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November 24, 2023 54 mins

What does it truly mean to overcome personal trials and advocate for those who are struggling? Join us for an exploration of resilience, recovery, and advocacy, as we share conversations that shed light on these significant aspects of life. Our guest, Senator John Kane, reveals his life journey from his humble beginnings as a plumber and labor leader to becoming a beacon of hope for working families. Going through his own battles with addiction and cancer, he articulates how he journeyed through recovery, highlighting the crucial role affordable healthcare and union benefits played in his survival and ultimate victory.

A captivating story of addiction and recovery follows as we host a brave guest whose personal struggle and eventual sobriety shines a spotlight on the challenging reality of addiction. The conversation underscores the importance of seeking help and finding support in overcoming addiction. It's a profound exploration of the humanity behind the statistics, a testament to strength and the possibility of recovery. 

Rounding off our episode, we engage in a candid chat with a Pennsylvania state senator, focusing on unity during crises and the necessity of bridging political divides. As an advocate for recovery programs, he's committed to helping those on their recovery journey and even shares his personal contact for those seeking help. As we close the episode, we extend our deepest gratitude to

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello and thanks again for listening to another
episode of All Better.
I'm your host, Joe Van Wheat.
Today's guest is my friend,Senator John Kane.
Senator Kane is a plumber and alocal labor leader who has
spent his life fighting forworking people and working

(00:21):
families.
He's personally battled throughmany of the challenges that are
facing Pennsylvanians today.
After graduating high school inDelaware County, Kane joined
Plumbers, Local 690.
The union.
He represented as a businessmanager for five terms.
Kane led his union through theGreat Recession, which put

(00:43):
nearly 500 members out of work.
As members struggled withmental health issues and
substance use disorder, Kaneprovided strong, steady
leadership and worked to delivera recovery that brought his
local back stronger than ever.
Kane's union benefits alsohelped him through his own
personal struggles.
At the age of 22, Kane sawtreatment for alcohol addiction.

(01:07):
His union benefits allowed himto the treatment he needed.
Now he proudly has 37 years ofsobriety.
2015,.
Kane was diagnosed with stage 3cancer.
Thanks to his union, his unionhealth care, the incredible
doctors, nurses and hospitalstaff, Kane has been cancer free

(01:29):
for six years.
He knows that his experienceisn't unique and he's ready to
fight for affordable health carefor all Pennsylvanians.
Kane lives in Birmingham withhis wife Lori.
He sits on a board of theLiving Grin Foundation, which
provides addiction treatmentacross Southeastern PA.
Let's meet the senator.

Speaker 2 (01:52):
So, and it's only a couple minutes away, let me just
tell them to check Threeo'clock.
Yeah, three o'clock, I'll haveyou out before three.

Speaker 1 (02:02):
Senator, thank you for coming on today.
Bye, we've been very excited totalk to you.
I've been an admirer of youradvocacy since you've been in
the state senate for addicts andpeople of recovery, and the way
you frame addiction is soeasily accessible and

(02:25):
understandable, and to see itfrom your position is really
refreshing, because that wasn'talways the case the last hundred
years.

Speaker 2 (02:36):
Right Well you know it's been a while.
I've been in recovery for sucha long time, you know, and when
I'm around people that are inrecovery it brings me right back
home, man, like I know whatit's like to struggle.
I know all those feelings thateverybody's going through, you

(03:00):
know, and it gets emotionalbecause you know the further I
get away from it.
You know I'm with other peopleand you know politics and stuff
like that.
You don't think about thepeople that are struggling until
you see it firsthand.
Whether it's going to a meeting, you know, whether it's being
around a lot of people that havebeen through the opioid

(03:20):
epidemic, you know.
Or when it comes to suicide,because of you know, I look at
it as though it's suicide.
A lot of times they get onheroin and actually know it's
fentanyl and then before youknow it, they're done.
But it breaks my heart to see,you know, people that are going

(03:43):
through this like I did, and youknow it's a reminder.

Speaker 1 (03:52):
How close is your district to Kensington?

Speaker 2 (04:00):
I'd say it's probably about a good 45 minutes to an
hour away and Kensington AvenueI mean it's, you know, in the
city of Philadelphia.
There I spent many times downthere, not only because we did a
lot of good down there to helpout rock ministries, which

(04:23):
caters to a lot of the youngchildren down there.
It's a boxing club and you knowboxing is a big sport in the
Philadelphia area and I thinkevery kid that grows up in my
neck and woods gives it a shot.
And you know Buddy Osborn.
I honestly believe the guy islike a walking saint for what he

(04:45):
does down there to provide, youknow, a gym training.
And then we open up a schoolfor kids to get up there at
night time, you know, becausethey don't have access to a safe
community.
You know where they can go to aplace like that and you know
they have dinners and lunchesserved for people down there and
that's right in the heart ofKensington Avenue.

(05:08):
But Kensington Avenue wasprobably about 25 minutes away
from my union hall and you knowcoming from, you know running a
union and having members thatwere addicted to drugs and
getting phone calls from familymembers like, hey, listen, pat's
right down there right now.
Can you do me a favor?

(05:28):
Can you send a couple guys togo down and get them?
And you know we wouldn't have aproblem doing something like
that, but Kensington Avenue isright down there.
Many a times there's a lotthere.

Speaker 1 (05:41):
Asking someone to get sober in a neighborhood where
basic needs aren't being metisn't the same as someone who
you know just lost the jobselling insurance.
I think compassion lets you seethat empathy.
And your friend was just onhere, brian Eddis, and we had a
large discussion about he's awhat I'm a good man.

(06:05):
Just so we got to really unpackthe idea of what not only unions
and labor organizations do fordemocracy and how they keep them
healthy, but how thisbrotherhood is evolved in the
last even 30 years inapproaching mental health
addiction, especially withseasonal work and the

(06:27):
unemployment being a part ofthat cycle, and what can happen
in those periods.
But I thought maybe just realquick for a summary, let's start
with your story of where did itall begin?

Speaker 2 (06:45):
Ah, the good old days .
All right.
Well, I was.
I started my drinking career, Iguess we could say, probably in
high school.
I wasn't an athlete, I wasn'tthe smartest kid in school, in
fact, I was undersized.
I was pretty dumb.
I wasn't a ladies man and whenI found alcohol, it was

(07:09):
everything I ever wanted to be.
You know, it made me thatperson that I wanted to be.
I was charming, I had a senseof humor.
I, you know, I was likable, Iwas a tough guy.
All of a sudden, you know, Iwasn't afraid to go at it when I
got a couple beers with me andthen, all of a sudden, when
ended up happening over years iswhat I found out was I was

(07:34):
getting into trouble.
And every time I got intotrouble it was linked to
drinking or drugs.
Every time, you know.
And then when ended uphappening to graduate.
We, you know, we used to go tothe keg parties.
And then, you know, we'rehanging on the corners and
everyone, from the corners tothe cars, from the cars to the
bars.

(07:54):
And then before you know it.
You know you're gettingyourself into trouble.
You know whether it wasjealousy and that was probably
the eye opener for me, because Iwas never a jealous person.
I mean, yeah, I wish I was abetter athlete, stuff like that,
or I wish I was smarter.
But the jealousy started actingup with me which I never saw

(08:16):
before.
You know, drinking in a bar andyou know your girlfriend and
somebody's over there talking toher.
You know what's going on and,yeah, I started to become angry.
And then you start, you know,you start going from the
drinking and that was thebeginning.
That was my gateway wasdrinking, you know.
Then, you know I always wantedto keep the drink going.

(08:38):
You know I wanted to drinkmyself sober so I could continue
to drink.
And then back in the day wewere doing speed, you know.
Then I got introduced toQuailudes and Angel Dust and I
was just off the charts withcertain things and Quailudes was
the worst thing in the worldbecause it was knocking me out

(08:59):
and I was, you know, reallygoing into what I like to say a
lot of black.

Speaker 1 (09:03):
What took you to this , Senator?
Is it the 70s?
Are we talking about the 80s?

Speaker 2 (09:09):
This was the 70s going into the 80s.
Yeah, this I would say probably.
I was 20 years old and I was afull blown drunk.
You know it was like I had toget to the bar.
You know I couldn't hold thejob and when I did work I was
taking shit off the job andstealing.

(09:30):
And you know I was a plumber.
So copper was worth about Idon't know, close to a dollar a
pound.
You're walking out with a bagabout a hundred pound of copper
I was.
A hundred bucks, a lot of money.
It was a good weekend.
And then started gettinginvolved in cocaine.
I always looked at there wasnothing.

(09:50):
I was afraid of a needle,scared of death, of acid, scared
of death of heroin.
To me they were the drugaddicts.
Little did I know I was worsethan half them guys.
They only did a little bit ofheroin and stuff like that Me.
A good night for me was gettingdrunk and, of course, getting

(10:10):
locked up.
That was a perfect night for meIf I didn't get drunk, locked
up, trouble with the cops into afist fight, getting thrown out
of a bar that to me that was anaccomplished me.
I love how you draw the linewith acid.

Speaker 1 (10:28):
That's a bridge too far.
What do you think it was?
Was it the store?

Speaker 2 (10:34):
The location.
I was in a corner and the guysthat hung up over at the ball an
hour.
They were all the heroinaddicts and the acid guys.
Guys would be talking aboutacid and psychedelic and stuff
like that.
That was way, way, way out ofmy mind.
That's like the Beatles versusElvis people.

Speaker 1 (10:56):
Yeah, my dad.
I was just getting intopsychedelic culture when I was a
teenager.
T-shirts loved it.
It's starting to listen to thedead and my father caught me
with a dead T-shirt on and heripped it right off me.
I'm like what are you doing?
I just bought this T-shirt.
He goes.
I know guys that are in diapersbecause of that bed, so I was

(11:20):
just lying there.

Speaker 2 (11:22):
Wow, well, I was like the blowing stones with the
tongue hanging out.
Because if you think about itback when I was growing up and
you look like you're a littleyounger than me, but you'll
probably remember you used tohave I guess it was the patches
and stuff like that on the backand the jackets or right on the
jeans and stuff like that, thepurple lights and the posters up

(11:43):
at nighttime in your room, andthat was when I grew up.
But I was scared to death ofhaving a flashback.

Speaker 1 (11:50):
That was like oh hell no, I don't think that's right.
I've got a band enough problemright here.

Speaker 2 (11:56):
I was a violent type of guy.
I mean, I'm probably the samesize as I was.
I lost a lot of weight.
Some of my story goes intoabout having cancer and stuff
like that.
I sound nasally but that's alldue because of cancer.
But I'm not the weight that Iused to be, where I was 235.

(12:16):
I'm about 165 pounds now andwhen I was drinking back in
those days I was a goodmiddleweight fighter.
I used to do a lot of sparringand stuff like that.
So I didn't mind throwing withpeople and I look at a bigger
guy and it's like I got nothingto lose here he does.
So getting drunk it justbrought me to that level where I

(12:38):
was always looking for a fight,always looking for a fight, and
I like to joke that Snowsdidn't get this way from back
and up and I probably shouldhave backed up.
In fact I probably should havewracked, because I don't win too
many fights Back in the day Iwon a fight.

Speaker 1 (12:55):
I felt I won a lot in grade school, but the first
time I got knocked out was yourcolleague there, marty Flynn
knocked me out in high school.

Speaker 2 (13:07):
Marty probably couldn't even lay a glove on me.

Speaker 1 (13:09):
I'm much better at the fight than he is, so this is
the summary of youth the waythe culture around you, how you
cope, how you connect and bondwith, say, alcohol and fetamines
, and that it's meeting a needthat you couldn't really provide
.
Or the idea of image, yourself-image, who you think you

(13:32):
are, doesn't really kind of geluntil you're under the influence
of these, Even today.
Do you surprise not onlyconstituents?
Or sometimes, when you're onpanels or advocating for
addiction and recovery means torecovery, Do people seem

(13:52):
surprised just because of thetitle, the stature, that what
they hear coming from your mouthabout addiction?
Do you see any surprises outthere?

Speaker 2 (14:08):
There are that I'm so open about my recovery and my
story.

Speaker 1 (14:18):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (14:20):
It's emotional and I let them know that I was a drunk
.
I was a bad kid, you know, andI enjoy being around people that
are like me, just to show themlike, listen, man, I know it
gets dark and I talk aboutsuicide and I talk about it all.

(14:43):
I didn't want to live.
I hated the person I was or Iwas becoming, and I knew deep
down in my heart I was a goodguy, but just my actions were
showing it and somebody justpulled me off and all it took,
all it took was one person topull me off to the side and have

(15:07):
a heart-to-heart talk with meduring a coffee break.
Like, yes and dude, I'm readingabout in the paper again what
the hell happened to you, man.
You got into a freaking highspeed chase on a motorcycle with
the cops and you got a thingy-ylooting and, you know, looting
the police and you've got adrinking problem.

(15:31):
Don't you see it?
And I knew I probably did, butI would prove to people look, I
don't have a drinking problem,look, I don't have a drink in a
mug.
And that was me, my mentalthinking, like I can stop at any
time.
But when I went back, man, if Ididn't get drunk and into a
fight, I didn't accomplish agood load and that's you know.

(15:55):
That's what ended up.
The moment of clarity, eventhough this guy had talked to me
, didn't mean I was going to getstraight and I knew it.
But around that same time, whenthe guy had the conversation,
who was in AA, who was a stewardon my job, billing Deaney,

(16:18):
passed away and I can use hisname because he always allowed
me to use his name.
Well, I ended up.
I got on a load down inPhiladelphia after I hadn't been
drinking all night and Idecided I got to get to school.
I didn't have a license.
You know, I'm putting in my.

(16:38):
I promised me a ride.
We go down to Philadelphia.
We got closer to my school formy apprenticeship program and I
blacked out.
We both blacked out.
In fact, I think we were givenwhat they so-called Mickey's or
something like that.
I had a busted head.
I ended up with a whole bunchof tickets in my pockets for

(16:59):
public drunkenness, disorderlyconduct.
I can't even tell you.
It's fricking half the stuffthat I had that night.
I had peppers in my pockets andwe were probably out trying to
get something to eat.
I don't know.
My while was stolen Peppers,hot peppers, you know.
I guess we were at a placetrying to get a homey, I don't

(17:20):
know.
I probably stole them.
I was a thief, it was just.
You know, I had blood all overme and I was down on Front
Street and I wake up in mybuddy's car and he doesn't have
his keys to his car, he doesn'thave his while.
So somebody rolled this.
And I remember walking home,seeing people it's about eight

(17:43):
o'clock in the morning andseeing, like you know, it was
like the morning people aregetting up and they're going to
work and traffic, and I'mwalking home and I'm like
something wrong.
Man, this is life, this is whatlife's supposed to be.
I'm supposed to be going towork, I'm supposed to be getting
up.
I'm not supposed to be drunkand beat up.
You know, there's something Ididn't like this person that I

(18:06):
had just became, and that's whenI actually went.
Right after that I'm going tosay that was probably a Thursday
or a Friday Sunday I ended upin another drunken fist fight
where I got my ass handed to meagain, and that Monday I ended

(18:30):
up.
I decided I'm going to go to AAand give it a shot and I was
glad that I did, because I endedup that Monday I didn't go, but
that Tuesday there was ameeting near my house and I rode
my bike because I didn't have acar.
I had a ride of bike and you'relooking at a twenty two year
old kid, you know, almost twentythree and doesn't have a

(18:54):
driver's license, don't evenhave a vehicle, don't have a pot
to piss, and I was able to, youknow, go to that meeting that
night and you know, listening towhat people were telling me
what to do, and it was thesimplest things in the world.
I'm not a smart guy, but I'm ablue collar type of guy, making

(19:14):
basic and making simple and Ican take that in.
And a guy grabbed me to theside and he goes 90 meetings in
90 days.
Are you able to do that?
And it sounded like a lot.
And he goes.
It's only one meeting a day.
I was laying off I could do that, so I ended up I did that and

(19:36):
in the construction industry welook at it as a strong
foundation is able to build, youknow, a high rise building, and
I kept it simple like that,Like I need a good, strong
foundation and I did.
I was young.
I had all these old timers inthe AA meeting Can't talk about

(19:57):
drugs, stop.
You got to stop right there, Ifound even though alcohol was my
drug of choice.
You know hard for a guy like menot to talk about it.
So I used to get reprimandedand then I used to go to the AA
meetings, which was perfectbecause I was meeting a lot
younger people at the time and Igot involved.

(20:19):
You know I started going tomeetings and you know we had a
soulful team.
You know it was a bunch ofyoung guys and the old timers.
They were playing chess andpinocchio and I couldn't give a
shit.
You know I was more or lesslike hanging out and even though
people, places and things I wastold and somebody, younger guys

(20:43):
like John, you could beanything that you want to be,
don't let that hold you back.
Don't believe what somebody'sold times are telling you, that
you can't continue to do whatyou do because there's alcohol
involved in it.
You'll be okay.
Just remember you can't havethat first drink.

(21:04):
Just remember that.
And it was so true.
I never lapsed, I never.
I never fell off the wagon.
I always stung in there andeven in the day I still think of
a drink.
My wife told her or she drinks,but I go and I take her out and
I see people drinking Does itbother me.

(21:25):
Yeah, it bothers me that I can'tdrink, but I'm all right when
it goes right in my hand itcomes right out.
I move on.
But I always try to advocate topeople.
I was at the bottom of thebarrel and I'm on that pink
cloud that we like to talk about, but it wasn't easy.

(21:45):
It wasn't easy.
It's still not easy for a guylike me.
You'd like to think it was.
Even when I was a plumber.
I quit 1983, my drinking Octoberthe 3rd, but we can go into
1987 when I met my wife.
1989, 1990, 1991, and thosethree years I only worked six

(22:12):
months.
I was out of work, out ofunemployment, out of money and I
felt less of a man like I didback in my drinking days.
But the only thing I diddifferently this time was I
didn't drink.
I picked up side work.
I ended up delivering flowers,I worked in a bowling alley, I

(22:36):
cattied what I could Whenever Ihad to do it, until times got
picked up and I was able to do alittle bit more side work and
things got better.
And then somebody gave me asecond chance in my union.
I was a bad kid.
They knew I didn't go to workand stuff like that.
Nobody wanted to give me achance because I ruined my

(22:57):
reputation.
And then, when it ended uphappening, the guy that was
running my union offered me aposition in my union as the
political action committee thatgot me involved in politics,
because he knew I was a good guyand he knew that I was trying
to change my life for the better.

(23:19):
And if it wasn't for my goodfriend, annie Keenan, I wouldn't
be where I'm at.
I know that he's the guy thatturned over after all those
years working underneath them,turned around and said you're
going to take over this union.
Wow, you think of a snot newskid growing up and hung up on a

(23:45):
corner all of a sudden, nowgoing to be a labor leader in
the city of Philadelphia, one ofthe strongest labor towns,
cities in the entire nation.
Man, what a goal.
And then when it ended uphappening, that was in 2007.
I was on cloud nine.
I had full employment.

(24:05):
We had money in our local 2008.
Just like that, dropping thedime, unemployment, a recession
that we'd never seen before.
I saw my members run out ofunemployment, coming in begging
for a job and I had nothing.
From 2010 to 2012, my memberswere running out of unemployment

(24:30):
.
I had 10 members of mine commitsuicide From 2007 to 2020, 22
of my members overdosed and diedbecause of the overdose
epidemic.
I never in a million yearsthought I was going to have to

(24:52):
take on something like this.
Never in a million years wouldI have ever thought something
like that was going to happen tome.
That was a huge weight on theseshoulders, man.
When I thank people on recoveryto keep myself open minded and I

(25:13):
was able to think of clearclarity, knowing that I got to
help this family, what can I doto help these people?
So I advocate for people thatare in addiction, for people
that are dying because of youknow when I think of people that

(25:36):
are depressed.
You know dealing with anxiety.
I've been there, man and when Iget the high risk burden, I'm
able to talk about these typesof things because I live it they

(25:57):
in and they out, and I wantpeople to know that this is my
number one and my number two.
I deal with depression and Ideal with recovery and I know
that if we can come together, wecan save a life.
If I can save one life, I didmy job and I'm happy to say I've

(26:25):
saved a lot of lives and I'mgoing to continue to save a lot
of lives.
I'm extremely proud to say I'mJohn Cain.
I'm an elected senator inPennsylvania, but before all
that, I'm an alcohol and I'llnever forget that.

Speaker 1 (26:44):
Your work is meaningful and profound in our
area to people.
I know our recovery communitythat doesn't go unnoticed.
It actually is helpingtremendous amounts of people and
myself is included in that.
I didn't notice you until I gotback from a relapse about four
years ago.
I said who the hell is this guy?

(27:05):
Holy God, what a breath offresh air.
I did want to talk a little bitabout your first campaign and
run in and the anxieties, thestress and the guts it takes to
run, but not only run run as aperson in recovery which we know

(27:26):
historically, 25, 30 years agocould have been a point of
attacking you.
How did you deal, confront andplan for that now that you
entered politics?
When you entered politics, yeah, what were the people around
you?

Speaker 2 (27:44):
saying that's a good question, john.
I was surprised and it was kindof taken back.
I ran in 2014 and I got my asshanded to me.
Joe, it was all the stuff thatcame out before 1983 that really

(28:06):
took me down and it wasuncalled for.
But unfortunately I found outthrough that campaign and it was
like the bad news bears againstthe Yankees man.
I was on an uphill battle.
We were down, I think.
When we started the race wewere down in the team.
So I want to say probably about15 points we lost by four

(28:29):
points.

Speaker 1 (28:30):
Wow, that's a climb.

Speaker 2 (28:31):
So we lost, but that's high.
It was a hell of a climb butI'm ending up.
I was asked to consider runningbut they didn't know all the
negativity about John Cain.
I think if they would haveknown they probably would have
looked for another candidate.
But what?

(28:52):
I think what ended up happeningand this is part of my district
in Delaware County.
I don't live there anymore, butI still have part of Delaware
County in my district and I'm aDelco guy.
I'll never change it, but Ilive in Chester County.
Now I like to joke and telleverybody they kicked me out and

(29:12):
they just have me in the county.
But when ending up happeningafter that race, a lot of people
realized you know I was willingto take them blows for my party
and I ran a race like they hadnever seen before and we raised
more money than they've everseen before in the county and

(29:36):
they never turned my back and wecould say the smartest and the
smartest that are out there waysmarter than me.
You know the doctors, thelawyers, the teachers, and then
you had the blue collar.
You know we all came togetherto help this guy and you know it
was even though I lost thatrace and it hurt and it almost

(30:00):
destroyed my marriage.
I mean it was.
There was parts of mybackground that my wife even
said if any of this comes out,I'm leaving.
And I sold her and I promisedher there's no way they would
ever go down that road.
And they did.
And if you know, things my kidsdidn't even know about now,

(30:25):
fine, now my neighbors you knowI was involved in the CYO
program and my neck and woodsand they're all looking up and
like holy shit, you know.
But that being said, there werepeople in the community that I
never you know the professors,the lawyers, you know that I

(30:46):
never even knew before.
They embraced John Kane.
They loved my story.
They loved the fact that youknow what I'm a guy that was
able to bring the party togetherfrom people that were blue
collar to, you know, the, the,the most wealthiest of people.
And even when I got my ass beat, I ended up.

(31:09):
I was diagnosed with cancerright after that.
That's why I'm the size I amnow, you know, from a 225, 230
guy down to 160 pounds.
Now they embraced the fact thatI showed up with cancer and a
tube running down my nose, youknow.

(31:31):
You know they all aligned.
I mean, they all told me howgreat I looked.
I looked like shit, I lookedlike hell and I survived it.
It wasn't easy, you know, andthat was all for the grace of
God.
I wasn't ready and I showed upand everybody appreciated it.
I didn't care if I was inPhiladelphia, bucks County,

(31:54):
montgomery County, birks County,lehigh County, delaware County,
chester County.
I showed up at every event thatI could possibly show up to let
people know.
Yeah, I'm glad I got my assbeat, but I didn't lose.
I'm a winner.
I've always felt as though thatwhen you get knocked down, you

(32:16):
can get that home backed up, andI did.
I'm sorry, joe, I got emotional.
I moved.
My daughter graduated highschool.
My wife and I have been looking.
We decided to move out toChester County after I ended up.
You know I had cancer and thingswere five years behind and you

(32:38):
know my wife and I were gettingalong great.
And when I moved out to ChesterCounty I found out through a
personal friend that I was in aRepublican district.
And when I consider runningagain, I was like man, I don't
know.
And we got no money.
Would you want to do it?
And my wife knew as much as thepoor woman I had gone through.

(33:07):
She knew I didn't like, notlost and she knew I still have
one good fight left in me andI'm you know, cancer was
probably at that time, wasprobably six years behind me and
I asked her would you allow meto run again?
And she was like, yeah, once Igot the approval man, I laced

(33:31):
them up.
I went to my members at myunion and they approved it and
you know the deal was, if I wonthen I would retire immediately.
We won, I retired immediately.
I never thought that I wasgoing to win from time one
because I already knew what aloss looked like.

(33:51):
You know I was up on anotheruphill battle but I knew I had
one fight left in me and Ialways said the only fight you
know I ever won was the fightfor cancer.
But you know Chester County,they loved me because they knew
who I was.
You know it was very supportivefor all the candidates in

(34:11):
Chester County in the past.
They loved me, I love them.
I love my Delco people.
So you know I'm happy toadvocate for people out there.
There are people that don't likemy story because I'm a drug
addict and an alcoholic.
You know the kind of like.
You know there's, you knowthere's some nationalities out

(34:34):
there that's like, oh, he's got.
You know he's got a problem,he's got it.
You know I no, I faced thatproblem.
Man, I'm a recovery and I alwaystell people you know people
like yourself, that you knowrelapse I'm only one drink away.
That could happen at any time.
Do I ever think of drinkingAbsolutely Online?

(34:55):
You today if I didn't?
But I know one day at a time Ican do this.
And I know I'm looking forpeople.

(35:16):
I look at my close friends thathave passed, that have died
because of their addiction orwho had died never in recovery.
I think of them.
Often when I have those weakmoments, people say you know,

(35:42):
what would Jesus do I have afriend?
What would Joe do?
He was my closest friend, theguy that used to hang on the
corner, that used to get me mybeer.
The old timer who ended upbeing my best friend died of

(36:05):
cancer.
And I know, when I have thoseweak moments, I lean on him and
I know, even though he's nothere, I can feel his left.
I can feel the break in myballs.

(36:26):
Tell me to get up.
Things are going to be okay,and he's right.
They will be okay, and I'm notbeing sober.

Speaker 1 (36:46):
I honestly I like the idea Catholics always had the
idea of the saints or influencesof souls that have passed on.
You know I'm not too Catholicthese days, but I was raised
Catholic To have a memory of afriend that's that close and
touching.
I think all of us get to.
A lot of people in AA get toexperience that, not only with

(37:09):
childhood friends but peoplethat we meet in the rooms or in
recovery communities.
People don't die if you'realive, if they live as a memory,
a voice.
I could hear those people in myhead and that's something real,
and I'm not talking about thespirit world.
The actuality that it'shappening in my head is

(37:30):
beautiful.
Along those lines I wanted tohey.
Your agenda and your advocacyhas not only helped understand
and reduce the stigma to accessto treatment, other programs
that could have been provocativeto either you or I, even when
we entered recovery that helpedsave lives.
And you know some forms ofrecovery don't look the same as

(37:56):
others and some are justmeasures to save people's lives.
I see you fighting for thatevery day.
I see it in the presence ofsocial media, I see it from your
colleagues and my friends inHarrisburg of the passion and it
takes a person.
What you just described sums upone word to me it's grit.

(38:17):
And grit.
Is this resiliency, thatfailure isn't the end of
something.
It's this distraction to amission, not even a goal.
You're driven by a mission Withall that exertion, recovering
from cancer.
What are the rituals you keepfor self-care for John that

(38:40):
nourish the marriage, yourmental health, that keep you in
the fight?
Because not many people arebuilt to fight the way you fight
for recovery communities inHarrisburg.
What do you do to care foryourself?

Speaker 2 (38:59):
Another good question .
Well, I spend every morning.
I spend a moment in prayer,more like meditation, and I'm
grateful for what I have, and Iguess through social media I

(39:19):
send prayers out to people thatare in need of prayer.
I also like and, joe, this isprobably one of the greatest
feelings that I get when I'mfeeling down and after I give my
story.
It's a lot of pressure and Ikind of you know it just brings

(39:41):
back so much.
I'll call a friend, somebody Ihaven't talked to, and you know
whether they take the call orthey don't.
And I got a lot of friends outthere and it breaks my heart.
You know, I haven't talked tothem in a long time and when I
do reach out to them they don'treturn the call.

(40:04):
And I could be like that.
I could be that person and justsay you know what?
I'm not going to call themagain.
I'm dumb with them and I theother way.
I think the other way and Ireach out to them, or I may
reach out to a person that Iknow is not doing well, maybe
sick, just to talk to thembecause they may not be getting
a phone call all day long, or asenior citizen, or I love doing

(40:28):
that.
That makes me feel very good.
I also am a huge proponent ongiving.
You know, I learned at an earlyage the greatest gift is the
gift of giving.
And I might see a street person,I might give them a couple of

(40:51):
bucks.
I know what they may be usingthat money for, but it makes me
feel good because, you know, forthe great guy there go I and I
think of my friend, joe, thatused to be on a corner hanging
waiting, you know, begging formoney and stuff like that.
So it reminds me that I've hada friend that was like that.

(41:11):
It could be me.
It could be a family member atsomebody's child.
Nobody ever wanted to grow upto be a drug addict or a drug
and I always think that with me.
If I get that moment of clarityin the morning and I don't miss
it, you know, if I get anopportunity to help somebody out

(41:35):
, joe, before I get off thisprogram, I am more than happy to
give my cell phone.
You let me know when you wantme to do it because I'll be
playing the note, because I'lltell you this.
I'll tell you this I've gottencalls.
I've gotten a phone call wherea kid not far from here called
me up and heard my message andgot the phone number and he said

(42:00):
I'm not doing good and this,and that when it's family and
it's kids.
And I took him to an AA meetingthat afternoon, I never I'm
telling you.
If I can do that for somebody,I'll do it.
I'm in a position where I canwalk away from a meeting and
just say hey, listen, I got itout, or I could cancel a meeting

(42:21):
.
This is the top priority forthis guy.
I don't have a problem.
No, well, I well I traveled toFlorida.
No, I'm not going to do that,but I'll be happy to talk to you
on the phone and get you somehelp and I'll follow up on it
and I'll give you my cell phone.
You can call me anytime.

Speaker 1 (42:41):
That makes me feel good because I can't get the AA
meetings like I used to anymore.

Speaker 2 (42:46):
I'm sure as happy as hell to talk to somebody in
addiction and somebody that'sheard Wow.

Speaker 1 (42:52):
I love to do that.
That was amazing.
I'm not going to let you belate for a parade, but I do have
one other idea I want toexplore because I think it's at
the heart of a lot of us withthe next upcoming year is
partisanship, the polarizationof the two parties, now well
beyond Pennsylvania orHarrisburg.

(43:12):
Just this anger and this anger.
And this almost not a delusion,the illusion that we're so
different because I just toldyou I'm a Democrat or you just
told me you're Republican, andI'm not trying to equivocate
like any kind of moral standardsbetween the two parties.
I don't want to step in that.

(43:33):
What I wanted to say is youhave a platform that is about
human dignity, so social work,the dignity of labor.
How do you stay above the frayto get the greater good done?
Are you meeting people acrossthe aisle there like John, I get

(43:53):
it, I get what you're doing.
There is no ideology here.
We're going to save people.
How are you coming across that?
How do you meet thatnonpartisanship?
I gotta say a lot of people.

Speaker 2 (44:08):
I can have a conversation, like you just said
.
You know party differences.
When you're sitting heretalking one on one with somebody
, we get along.
It's just that when you get thegroups together I don't get
along with so many people.
On my side of the aisle Iscratch my head, thinking like
what are you thinking about?
And then I look at some peopleon the other side of the aisle.

(44:30):
I think the same thing.
But when I have the one-on-oneconversations, they're awesome
conversations.
People want to hear my story.
You know they want to know alittle bit about some of the
people that I've met in my lifethat got me into recovery.
Or would you recommend?
Do I believe in like methadonefor people that are heroin

(44:54):
addicts and do I believe thatshort-term care versus long-term
?
I said I'm old school man.
Long-term care for me is theonly thing that works.
But I'm old school.
We talk about these.
You know these recovery homes.

(45:15):
I live with three other guys.
Back when I got in recovery itwas the greatest house.
Little did I know it wasprobably the billionaires that
came in with the help we weredoing.
Well, us.
It was awesome and really theydo work, man.
I'm telling you they do work.
I worry about some of them thatare out there and they might

(45:36):
not have any oversight, but wewere oversight.
We watched out for each otherand it was great, it was a lot
of fun.
But when I talk to people on theother side of the aisle and I
know there's so much hatred outthere, I said but we also know
at times, at times we cometogether.

(45:58):
When we saw what happened on9-11, this country loved each
other.
There was no hate.
We all believed we were allAmerican, we all loved our flag.
We all loved each other.
We were attacked and I believethere's certain moments in this

(46:20):
state that I see that we cancome together.
Even if you're a Steelers fanand I'm an Eagles fan, go words.
When the Phillies were doing sowell, the people out in
Pittsburgh, they were rootingfor the Phillies.
It didn't matter what party youwere.

(46:41):
We all loved the Phillies atthat time and I'm sure
everybody's going to love theEagles when we're back in the
Super Bowl again this year.
But there's moments of clarityand I try to tell them change
your station.
My family, they're allRepublican and their job would
happen.
It's like stop, hit the pausebutton, don't change the station

(47:08):
, and I'm the same way.
I look at my party like we'rethe greatest and sometimes I
think, all right, maybe you areright.
I love opinionated people and Ialways say because I ran a
union and I used to hear it allthe time we shouldn't do this,
we shouldn't do that.
I get it.
I respect opinionated people,but I don't have to agree with

(47:32):
them.
But I will say from time totime they're not wrong and I
always look at it.
So you know what?
That was a great opinion.
I like what he had to say and Iwill consider it and I do
sometimes consider it andsometimes I think as a whole we
should be like that, beopen-minded.

(47:54):
I look in that Senate chamber,I look throughout the entire
Senate chamber.
75% of them people in thatSenate chamber are lawyers,
extremely smart people.

Speaker 1 (48:06):
There's only one master club in that room and
that's me.
You know they might be smart,but they don't have what I got.

Speaker 2 (48:17):
I acknowledge them being a blue-collar street
person.
I'm in hell of a bummer.
I'll challenge anybody when itcomes to bummer.

Speaker 1 (48:25):
And we wind down to close to get you to a parade.
I want to summarize a fewthings Just so it's clear to
anyone listening.
Your advocacy in the last fewyears, and in Pennsylvania
specifically, has produced andadvocated and promoted some
really special things happenedin our state.
One of them was the designationwe were talking earlier of the

(48:45):
recovery house.
Now what this did is allow ourstate to give you a designation.
With this designation you couldget funding up to three months
six months For a person to livein a sober environment.
That now has standards.
Dignity is really well run.

(49:06):
We're one of the first statesto really do that effectively
through D-DAP.
I've seen that part of you.
I've been on panels listeningin of your application for that.
Other things is the access toMAT programs.
That saves lives.
It might not be the totalabstinence recovery one, but
dead people don't get sober.

(49:27):
I've heard you speak andunderstand this and ask the most
poignant questions on thesepanels and work sessions.
It was moving.
I'm really proud to have you onto promote what you're doing.
I think all of our recoverycommunities should know that
they have a friend in Harrisburgwho's about to give out his

(49:50):
cell phone number to helpanother alcoholic.
It's amazing.

Speaker 2 (49:57):
Joe, I'm very fortunate.
Like I say, if I'm doing my job, I get reelected.
If I didn't do my job, then Iwon't.
I'm getting up on my electionyear.
I know I've been like I triedto tell the people in my
district if I can leave mydistrict a little bit better

(50:19):
than the way I found it.
I achieve my goal.
I've advocated for people inrecovery and I will continue to
advocate for people in recoveryto the day.

Speaker 1 (50:29):
I die.

Speaker 2 (50:32):
Save this kid's life.
There's other people on bothsides of the aisle that are in
recovery.
Someone is open about therecovery than I am, but to me
it's an emotional story.
It's my story.
I own it.
I want to share With that mycell phone 215-764-9114.

(50:58):
I may not answer your callbecause I don't recognize your
number, but I will tell you.
If you leave a message or shootme a text, I will call you back
and get in touch.

Speaker 1 (51:10):
Beautiful Senator.
I'll stay in touch.
Anything you ever need, I'malways here, whatever I could do
.

Speaker 2 (51:19):
Thank you, Joe.
It's really nice meeting you.
Thanks for joining us Enjoy theparade.
Thank you for your time.
I don't know about that.
All right, I'll see you.

Speaker 1 (51:30):
I'd like to thank you for listening to another
episode of All Better To find uson allbetterfm, or listen to us
on Apple Podcasts, spotify,google Podcasts, stitcher,
iheartradio and Alexa.
Thanks to our producer, johnEdwards, an engineering company,

(51:52):
570 Drone.
Please like or subscribe to uson YouTube, facebook, instagram
or Twitter and, if you're not,on social media you're awesome.
Looking forward to seeing youagain.
And remember, just becauseyou're sober doesn't mean you're
right.
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