SHAIR 176: Against the Odds with Christopher VelonaSHAIR 176: Against the Odds with Christopher Velona
The SHAIR Recovery Podcast
Christopher Velona shares how he moved from privileged, alcohol-fuelled chaos to long-term sobriety while parenting a son with Batten disease. He explains how recovery tools, service and a focus on time over money help him face extraordinary challenges without picking up a drink.
1:28:23•26 Jun 2018
Against the Odds: Christopher Velona on Sobriety, Fatherhood and Time
Episode Overview
- Ego and denial kept Christopher away from recovery until family boundaries and a straight-talking sponsor pushed him into honest AA participation.
- A consistent routine of early-morning meditation, readings, coffee and contact with a higher power helps him stay grounded and sober.
- Parenting a child with epilepsy and Batten disease requires round-the-clock care, yet he uses the same recovery tools—phone calls, meetings and writing—to cope.
- Project Sebastian was created to raise funds for gene therapy trials, highlighting how recovery can fuel sustained advocacy rather than self-destruction.
- He emphasises that time, not money or status, is life’s most precious resource, and urges others to act now—go to a meeting, help someone and drop expectations.
“It’s not a job. It’s not a relationship. And it’s not money. It’s time. It’s the most valuable component of life. You can’t buy it. You can’t get it back.”
What can we learn from those who have battled addiction? This conversation with Christopher Velona hits hard, mixes in some dark humour, and lands squarely on what really matters: time. Christopher shares how growing up in a wealthy California family gave him easy access to booze, status and zero accountability. House parties in million-dollar homes, a wild Arizona State fraternity life, and duis he dodged through connections all fed the illusion that he was untouchable.
It took his parents’ tough love and a blunt sponsor who told him to “shut up and sit on your hands” for him to finally admit, in his own words, “I think I got a problem.” Sobriety opened the door to a very different life: work, marriage, fatherhood and then the biggest challenge of all—his son Sebastian’s diagnosis with Batten disease.
Christopher talks openly about seizures, endless medications and the brutal reality of a rare degenerative condition that “robs every child of a childhood.” Instead of checking out, he stayed sober and got to work, becoming a sober dad, special education aide, charity founder and gene therapy advocate. His days now start at 4–5 a.m. with coffee, meditation and contact with a higher power, and end with cooking for his kids and working on Project Sebastian.
Through it all, he keeps his recovery anchored in meetings, step work, phone calls and writing. The standout moment comes when he lays down his core lesson: “It’s not a job. It’s not a relationship. And it’s not money. It’s time. It’s the most valuable component of life. You can’t buy it.
You can’t get it back.” If you’ve ever wondered how someone stays sober while facing the unthinkable, this story might leave you asking yourself what you’re doing with your own time—and who you could be helping today.
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