Gordon Calahan was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. He graduated from the University of Denver with a degree in building and real-estate. He married Sandy Williams and for the next twenty years, worked in the family construction business while Sandy worked as a nurse at a local hospital. Gordon and Sandy raised two boys, Richard and Donald. It was a time of partying, hard drinking, and living life to the fullest. They enjoyed adventure, which included flying their own Beach Bonanza airplane, named Bonnie, sky diving, scuba diving, sports, and traveling. In 1984, at the age of 44, their lives changed dramatically. Gordon and Sandy finally realized that they were alcoholic and that their lives had to change. The use of alcohol was out of the question. Their life style would have to change and extreme behavior would have to be brought under control and softened.
Thus, Gordon and Sandy joined AA (Alcoholic Anonymous), attended many personal growth programs, learned mediation, entered therapy, and found new friends who were working in similar recovery programs. To further his education, Gordon enrolled at Colorado State University and graduated with a Master's Degree in Business Administration.
Life finally began to change for the better. They were happy and enjoyed the recovery work. Gordon became involved with a dear friend, Narayan Shrestha, and together they worked with a charity, Helping Hands Health and Education, to build schools and hospitals in Nepal and Bhutan. Gordon built a school in Narayan's home village in Nepal.
After 34 years of sobriety, Gordon still works in the family business, managed and run by his two sons. He works AA, enjoys attending personal growth programs, and assists people who are in recovery. At age 80 he is still going strong and is in perfect health, no medications. He says he will continue working and giving of himself to helping others as long as he can. --
