Ceki had always loved his wife, Emma, a super-lovely women and a rare one at that. So far they two had had a marriage of about a year, a happy one. Ceki recalled the night when they had met at a luncheon, the day he was as shy as a squirrel.
The lady he met, who introduced herself as Emma, as they sipped glassfuls of exotic wine, was very attractive, fluent, nice and fun. They had struck off a conversation immediately. That's when he found out she was from his mother's home state, Kansas. This had strengthened his bond to her even more.
A few years later and they were married, and Ceki could hardly believe his luck. What a woman he had married! he thought. One that was the perfect companion to be with, a most loving and supportive wife, industrious, and every other good thing a woman could be to a man.
But Ceki had one weakness which drove his beautiful marriage to the mud. He drank too much, a hopeless alcoholic. This troubled Emma a lot and she had tried to make the best of the bad situation, but her efforts yielded no results. And so this dark stain lay on her beautiful union with the man she loved so much.
Then Emma did the unthinkable. One evening, after her husband had his dinner, and was sipping a mug of cocoa and reading on the sofa, she said she wanted a word with him.
He had immediately dropped the book he held, and sat up in the chair. That was one of the things Emma loved so much about this man: He always gave her undivided attention no matter how busy he was with anything.
'I hope there is nothing wrong, darling,' he said, alarmed by her tone. ' Tell me, what's the problem?' and he gazed tenderly into her eyes.
In a few words, and bluntly, Emma said since there was no hope for his addiction, she had no choice but to go for a divorce. She loved him so much, she said, but she was doing it for the sake of the children, she couldn't have a family with him in his condition.
The next few minutes Ceki said nothing, while the full implications of what his wife had just said seeped into his mind. He pondered the ramifications of losing the beautiful life he had built up with this woman. She was the type of woman, so full of feminine goodness in every aspect, that most men would turn their back on their families to have a life with her.
Ceki went to bed that night heavy of mind, and Emma said very little to him that night. The next day he went about his office duties like one in half-dream. But he had enough time to give the matter serious thought, and that was what brought him redemption.
It past 2 weeks before he noticed that he had not even had a glass of wine; he used to drown bottles of the detastable substance daily. Maybe his wife short discussion was producing an effect, or the love and companionship of his wife was far more dear to him than the brief comforts that alcohol provided.
Ceki continued in this state of abstinence, unbelieving of his actions, until their first child, Raph was born, and what a lovely child he was. The matron at the hospital ward couldn't stop congratulating Emma on her luck. When Ceki gazed at his son for the first time at the hospital, with his mother lying close to him, he knew that his abstinence was the best decision he had ever taken, and the tears filled his eyes.
And so Ceki's old self passed and he felt like a man born anew. He put all his efforts into giving his son the best life, while also having a great life with Emma.
Years later, Ceki would often think on that moment that changed his life, that moment when everything he had seemed to hang in the balance and he was grateful for the decision he had taken that had saved his marriage and indeed his life from disaster.
He also considered his wife's action in this light, the few words she had spoken to him years back. How blunt, how hurtful they were! Yet now he was grateful she had spoken them. He was grateful to his wife for everything he had become. Emma, that charming, lovely woman he had met at the luncheon a few years back, had become his redemption.
The End.
Thanks For Reading.