Fawlty Showers

Sooner, Longer

Brat Boy sent me a gif of 90 year-olds running in the Senior Olympics.  His note said he’d found guys I could compete with since I no longer had any chance of beating him at basketball.

In 2025 I was 65, Brat Boy was 25.  I’d gotten to enjoy all 25 of his years sober.  Many of my recovering friends had missed big chunks of their children’s lives. I was grateful I’d quit sooner rather than later.

I sometimes encountered a guy named “T” at the gym. He’d quit smoking and lost 75 lbs. in his late forties. He spent his weekends skiing, hiking, or biking. He wished he’d gotten healthy earlier.

T liked to say the sooner you make the change, the longer you get to enjoy it.  Words to live by, I always thought.

‘Meet me at the gym after work,’ I texted Brat Boy. ‘Bring two towels and a ball.’

He texted, ‘Mom won’t let you take a towel?’ Laughing emoji.

‘One’s for you to cry into after I crush you like a bug.’ Laughing emoji, heart emoji.

 

Today I’ll remember the sooner I make the change, the longer I get to enjoy it.

 

Fawlty Showers 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.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S
• https://www.pinterest.com/kenmontrose/mt-rose/