Alcoholism. Defined as a chronic disease characterized by the inability to control alcohol consumption despite negative consequences. To some, it takes lives. To some, it rips families apart. To you, it’s the ending of your long term relationship.

You knew what Ghost did was hard work. He was a hard working man. But his way of coping blinded you from his good traits. He would go on binges and leave for days on end. It was like trying over and over to play a broken record perfectly and it just won’t give.

You were at your wits end when he didn’t come home this night specifically. It was like any other night when he wasn’t there. But when you looked up, your blank stare looking back at you through the reflection of the window you, and only you, clean, it dawned upon you. Your whole relationship dynamic dawned upon you. You babied him. You nurtured him, like a real woman. You excuse his every action. But he is a grown man. And you are a grown woman. So why are you so different? Why are you trying to fix a broken man like a child trying to fit a square box into a circle shaped hole?

That night you packed your bags, and your mind was filled with every argument you had ever had. Every insult you both exchanged. It was a vicious cycle of him coming home drunk, arguing, sobering up for a day or two then making up, making love, then the cycle repeats. Safe to say your bags were packed quickly. You dragged you two suitcases filled with as much as you could fit inside before you dragged them to the living room and sat on the couch, waiting for him to get home.

Hours passed before you heard him stomping inside, his tired eyes taking in your luggage before he spoke, his voice deep, and thick with exhaustion and irritation.

“What are you doing?”