The Euphoria of Letting Go

I join my fellow writers to write to the prompt,

“Write about a time you saw the art in failure—when you felt the euphoria of truly letting go.” When my son opens my office door and asks,

"What are we waiting for?"

This is a mundane question from a boy I’m worried sick about.

He is a junior in college on a full scholarship, 23 years old, and a daily drinker in a family of mostly recovered alcoholics. He drinks — blacks out, comes to, and drinks more. Somewhere in between — he writes papers for his classes and gets straight A’s.

I drop what I am writing to go to the mall with him, my son.

In the car, and out of nowhere, he states, “I’ve decided I’m going to stop drinking.”

I am the mother of an alcoholic.

I know the euphoria of truly letting go.