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Two days later I went to Roger’s house to help him pack.  His mother was there, along with Trevor, The Youngstown Kid, Billie and her boyfriend Bo, and Sam.  Kim was still out of town.

I came across a framed document from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. “What’s this?” I asked Roger, wondering why anyone would frame a DOC document.

“Court order to live in a DOC halfway house for a year,” Roger said.  “They drug tested three times a week. Strict schedule. We ‘volunteered’ to help at soup kitchen."

“Sounds miserable.”

“It was, but after a year, I’d started to like being clean.  I’d never been sober that long, especially not in jail.  It made me live that slogan, ‘don’t quit five minutes before the miracle happens.’”

“I always liked that slogan,” I said, thinking how Billie had found love after two decades of bitterness.  Sam had lost the weight he’d carried for years. Getting pregnant may have been an accident, but Sue had stayed clean. Katie was her healthy miracle baby.

Today I won’t quit five minutes before the miracle happens.

Dogged Determination ©2018 & 2019 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/