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?"

A mundane question from someone I am 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, then comes to and drinks again. 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 entirely.”

I am the mother of an alcoholic.

I know the euphoria of truly letting go.