It was gray
the day of the Christmas Miracle. I had ended a disastrous three-year drinking
binge and was drying out at my sister’s house. Since I couldn’t be trusted, I
had given up my wallet, but the alcoholic mind is a criminal mind and I began
saving change. I was trusted with enough money to buy small purchases such as
milk, snacks, etc. For weeks I hoarded coins.
Once I’d scraped together seven dollars I
decided to spend it. It was a week before Christmas. I started walking the mile
to the liquor store. Cold drizzle fell, coating everything in a glaze of ice.
Magical thinking is another facet of the addict’s character and as I walked I
kept my gaze on the ground, looking for lost change, hoping to find a dropped
wallet. Seven dollars wasn’t enough to get the job done. The entire walk into
town I was frantically looking for lost money. I kept telling myself it was a
silly, futile hope but I couldn’t help it. Lost money, I kept thinking. Lost
money lost money...
And then the street opened into the center
of town and I saw something that made me question my sanity; a ten dollar bill!
It was like I’d wished it into existence! The bill was frozen to a snowbank.
And next to the ten I found a dollar bill and then another one! I looked around
for a film crew. Mr. Funt? I felt like I was hallucinating. I peeled the bills
off the ice and went to the liquor store and bought a bottle of cheap whiskey
and some beer. As I headed back, I really felt as if something supernatural had
happened to me. And that’s the story of my Christmas Miracle.
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