A Sober Reckoning for Doing Something Great

Calhoun Mane had a grievance with his onerous side. He was a half-grown man, aware of a weakness for dramatic anguish that plagued him so often. A life full of struggles sent him spiraling out of control. He had gone on a bender for three weeks. Alcohol consumed him. He had never drunk at this level before, but the strength he once mustered to succeed had gone with his sobriety. Beyond whatever social moments he shared with friends at gatherings, he never considered himself indulgent in such a lousy habit as excessive drinking. Now, he sat slumped over a commode, hurling chunks from a late-night feast of sardines, waffles, and chocolate ice cream.

Calhoun mumbled, “I swear… if I ever get away from this stinking place… I’m never coming here again.”

Standing over him, Kameron, his ex-girlfriend, arrived, concerned. She countered his drunken slurs with reason. She insisted that the toilet would be a place he’d frequent and that the alcohol needed to wear off before something worse happened.

The whole evening started poorly, as people close to him had already grown tired of his rude behavior and declined an invitation to the party. Over the weeks leading up to his significantly awful vomiting encounter, Calhoun had wrecked his car, lost hundreds of dollars somewhere around his house, and ranted insults to neighbors in the middle of the night. He had found himself in handcuffs the first drunken night he lashed out, but the kind neighbor took pity on Calhoun. He slept off that night’s intoxication in his flowerbeds.

When Calhoun finally sobered up, Kameron sat at the side of the bed, looking down. He half-heartedly smiled, ashamed of his behavior, and the moments he remembered were terrible.

Kameron asked, “Are you going to stop this foolish nonsense now?”

Calhoun nodded. He left the house with Kameron and checked himself into a treatment center. Months went by, and he graduated from the program successfully without incident. He looked healthy. Kameron stood by his side the entire time, and their friendship made for the perfect support system to get his life in order.

Calhoun became the person he had hoped to be, someone who could make a difference in his community. He obtained licensure from the State of Ohio and advocated for others who had temporarily lost their way into the alcohol scene. Self-love empowered Calhoun to do some good after his battle with depression subsided.

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