The Euphoria of Truly 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 a young man we are 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.

I go to the mall with my son.

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

I choose life over art.

I know the euphoria of truly letting go.