GROUND WORK

Here it was, 9 P.M. on Christmas night, and I was at the convenience store buying a box of freezer-burned microwave chicken for dinner. The cashier's face expressed pity as she rang me up. When I was leaving the store she wished me "Merry Christmas" and for a moment I felt sorry for myself. What a way to be spending Christmas, I thought. After 10 years of sobriety, I wasn't enjoying a big dinner with my family or exchanging gifts like the rest of the world.