Mary and William have been together for 14 years now. Everyone knew Mary had a pretty fair drinking problem. William did too, but this, this wasn’t his fault. It was hers. She was driving the car, she was drunk, and she fell asleep. The child was screaming at her to wake up, but she couldn’t. She had passed out. If she would’ve avoided those last couple of beers, none of this would’ve happened. And here they are, standing in front of this innocent child’s grave, regretting it all. Both of them knew they weren’t really deemed fit for the care of a child, but it felt right at the time. Not anymore.
     Mary and William had met at a party in college in ’59. He proposed four years later. Their marriage date was March 17, 1964. Mary was pregnant five years later. They had clearly waited long enough. And a little baby girl was just what they wanted. Gabrielle Renee Whitney. It was all perfect. When Gabrielle was six, Mary reapplied for college. Yes, she has already been, but never finished. That wasn’t good enough. She wanted to be a role model for her little girl. She wanted to finish her education, something she should’ve done the first time around.
     Around this time, William had decided they needed a new car, badly. And he was right. I mean, when your antenna is half gone, leather seats are showing stuffing, and paint is starting to fade, it’s time for an upgrade. He decided they had enough money for a brand new sports car, a Corvette. This is one of those my-wife’s-going-to-beat-me-for-this and I’ll-regret-this-later decisions, but it just felt right.
     It was a week ago when it happened. Mary had decided to meet up with a friend she hadn’t seen in years. William was working late and there was no one to watch Gabrielle, so she tagged along. Not the best idea. Mary knew her risk of meeting this friend. She knew there would be alcohol. Everyone knew of her little problem, but she’d been trying to suppress it for years. She did a great job, but she knew she still had that small urge. She’d been completely avoiding drinking all together, which only made that urge worse. And as luck would have it, she had a few too many and still tried to drive herself and Gabrielle home. Definitely not the best idea.
     This incident cost her her child and her husband. William left her. Not for long, though. They were back together a year later. Mary started to attend Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Very ironic. So, with this incident, comes a resolution. Neither of them decide to have another child. But they do continue with normal lives. Everything does happen for a reason, right?