He was our friend

We simply could not get him sober. He was a low-bottom, hopeless drunk and his family was distraught. His mother was terrified that he would die drunk in some abandoned building somewhere. So she would take him in one more time, and clean him up and feed him. He made the usual promises of course, that he would not touch a drop, go to his meetings and behave himself. Being a resilient alcoholic, in a couple of days the color would come back into his face and he would look human again.