27. Time’s Hostage

As they walked out of the group room, I could hear Marjorie the soccer mom talking to Andra.

“So what’s holding you back?” Marjorie asked. “It’s been ten years. Why don’t you date someone?”

Andra said, “When my husband died, I was crushed.  I didn’t just drink, I went into hiding.  It took my girlfriends three years to pull me out.  I fear if I met someone, and something happened to him, nothing would bring me back. I’d die drunk, with curtains drawn, and the house cold.”

“I don’t know you well enough to say this, but you can’t let the past hold you hostage. Believe me, I know.” She told a story that reminded me some people who seem to have it all have been through it all.

Today I won’t let the past hold me hostage.

Sober Not Somber © 2015 by Ken Montrose

(Just a reminder: Sober Not Somber is a work of fiction.  Any resemblance to anyone you might know is purely coincidental.)