The Guy Who Showed Up

 Ebby didn’t come to save me

He wasn’t glowing

He wasn’t preaching

He just showed up

Sober

And that was enough to mess with my head

Because I knew him

I knew what he was like

I knew how he drank

I knew how he fell apart

And there he was

Sitting in my place

Clear eyes

Steady hands

Talking about something I didn’t understand

But wanted

He didn’t push

Didn’t try to fix me

Didn’t tell me what to do

Ebby just told me what happened to him

And somehow

That got through

It wasn’t big

It wasn’t loud

It was just honest

But that honesty cracked something open in me

Something I didn’t even know was still there

Hope

Maybe

And from that one visit

That one conversation

That one sober man sitting across from me

Came something none of us could see coming

Meetings

Rooms

Coffee

Chairs in circles

People saying

My name is

And not dying

All because Ebby

Who used to drink like me

Walked through a door

And told the truth

Nobody claps for that part

Nobody writes his name in lights

But I know

Without Ebby

None of this happens