Hero at Large

When I was three years old, I drowned in Galveston, Texas. The doctors said that because I had lost my ability to breath for so long, if I ever woke up from my coma, I would have severe brain damage (insert your favorite brain-dead joke here). I remember waking up from my coma, hearing my mother yelling at the doctors that I would be okay. I specifically remember her saying "Just wait, you'll see - he can do anything." I remember the doctors trying to let her grieve, but being stern about the reality of the situation. It's funny, I can't really recall what they were saying, but I can still hear my mother's words crystal-clear: "He can do anything, you'll see." That's when I woke up out of my coma. After a full battery of tests, they found nothing wrong with me. There were many times while I was growing up that I heard my mom say the same thing, and it always stuck with me. My mother raised me so I believed that I could do anything. 

Starting at a very young age, I was the guy that others seemed to confide in. From secrets people needed to confess, or just things people needed to get off their chest. 

I soon started getting asked to help out with problems, especially intimate problems. Everything from girls in trouble, to bailing friends out of jail when they messed up; most of this help was of a sensitive nature, where discretion was key. 

Soon I started to get a reputation that if some odd and impossible thing needed to be done, then Sean could do it, or at least advise how it might be done. I have gotten to do many things with this great reputation such as counsel the advisors to world leaders & Senators; work with Red Cross in the Disaster Services Human Resource (on the front lines in disasters such as 9/11 ), and I even got to be a Deputy for the SASR Team at LAX that helped Federalize the airports after 9/11 ; and so on ... 

Out of this I started to realize the power of just plain believing that a person could do something. It is the most powerful thing you can give a person; not the help in the matter, but more important is the honest listening & belief that the person can actually do it. 

It might not be a "Super" Power, but it is an amazing power, and hence the "Hero at Large", and not the "Super Hero" title. Yet. The other "power", if you will, that I am most told about is the ability to contextualize things. To put things into perspective, in a simple "Texan'esque" way. Once again it might not sound like a "Super Power", but being able to lighten a hostile negotiation with a few contextually appropriate jokes, or refocusing violence with a few words, has saved many lives over the years; and saving lives is amazing. 

So if you ever hear someone wondering why I was titled "Hero" (Yes, it was not a self-label), then you can send them here. The "at Large" was because I used to travel tons. 

In the past few years I haven't taken on the bigger multi-month projects like I used to, but I stay packed with more requests than I can handle. It is always a juggle with time; remember even Superman had to have a day job, since the hero thing doesn't pay. 

On the encouragement of a friend, I have started collecting the stories for my future grandkids. If you have any stories of odd things I did that helped you, Please email me the story. Thanks.