It’s Not All Bad
The weather turned too rough for me to go to Chicago to see Brat Boy play. He texted me to say it was not a problem.

I still felt bad. When I was a little boy I was badly burned. I spent three months in the hospital. My mother came to see me after work. One day I noticed how tired she looked and told her she didn’t need to visit every day.

The next day, she was a little late getting to the hospital. An empty, sad, sinking feeling washed over me. I remembered that feeling like I’d felt it the day before.  I hated the idea that Brat Boy might be feeling something like that.  

I had to remind myself Brat Boy was eighteen, not eight. He was staying in a hotel, not a hospital.  I had been alone. Brat Boy was sharing the room with his girlfriend’s brother.  I had no doubt they spent every waking moment playing X-Box, talking trash, and eating pizza with their teammates

. 

Getting burned had been a horrible experience, but some good had come from it. My strong desire to be there for the people I loved grew out of that moment. Knowing  I was never going to be reliable while I was still drinking was one thing that drove me to get sober.

Today I’ll be grateful for the good that comes from bad situations.

Dogged Determination ©2018 by Ken Montrose

Dogged Determination is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at: www.greenbriartraining.com https://www.pinterest.com/kenmontrose/mt-rose/