56. Don’t Transplant Weeds

“You know what I’ve accepted?”  Norman asked.  “I’m not going to get my old life back. My wife isn’t going to forgive me, and my son will never be the same.   What now?” 

  “After I got kicked out of my Ph.D. program,” I said, “I started looking for another school.  I wanted to keep drinking while I got my degree somewhere else.   I didn’t want to change my life.  I just wanted to transplant it, like moving a weed to more fertile soil. Over the years I’ve learned new weeds will sprout. I have to be careful not to just transplant them.”

Norman thanked me, and said he understood about not transplanting weeds.  I pointed out he was already spending a lot of time with Andra, while he was still married, new to recovery, and struggling with depression. “Sounds like new weeds are sprouting,” I said.  “Will you pull them or transplant ‘em?” 

Today I won’t transplant weeds.  

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.)