Admittedly, when I first got out of rehab, the only reason I was going to stay sober was because I had to. My parents had just shelled out a lot of money and they would be pretty pissed off if my ass didn’t stay sober. That’s putting it nicely. They had to cancel a trip to Cancun they had been planning for over a year. However, by throwing down the plastic for my hospital stay, they earned enough points on their credit card to take a nice trip to lovely Palm Springs. There’s really no comparison there, but that’s how my dad explained it to me, trying to make the very best out of the very worst situation.

I guess now, it should be viewed as making the best out of the best situation. That foregone trip to Cancun saved my life. It’s interesting how certain situations can take on a whole new life as time goes by. All the crying and worrying and anxiety, all the what-ifs, all the imagining of scenarios that may never happen, all for not. Everything has been going smoothly since. Everything is calm and serene now. And, if it wasn’t, it would have all still been a waste of time. We can’t predict the out come of the events in our lives, and all the worrying and crying and imagining in the world is not going to change them. I’m learning to live my life this way today, and I’m really learning to enjoy the unpredictable.

I hope that trip to Palm Springs was the best trip to the desert they have ever had. In hindsight, it should have been a celebration of a new life about to begin. A celebration for giving life to me for a second time, and giving life to themselves in the process. For a long time, my actions had kept them locked up like prison bars.

I plan on trying to celebrate everyday like this. I plan on celebrating in advance.