The BudLight weighed heavy on my heart.

My daughter and myself had stopped at the grocery store to pick up few items. We were just about finished as she was choosing various flavours of yogurt when a particular woman caught my eye. I knew her. I have known her since our children starting attending school. She is a mother. She was once married. She once lived in a neighborhood and planned birthday parties for her children. She was there for school functions. I don't know her story and yet I am sure there is one. There always is. I almost did not reconize her, yesterday, as she carried the bottle of BudLight carefully by her side so hopefully no one would notice. I noticed. I saw her face. Bruised. Unkept. Dirty. Clothes hanging off her shapeless frame. She is still battling. The fierce war of addiction. From the fragile existance she is walking around in, it appears the demons are winning. "If you are lucky addiction will break you, if not, it will kill you." I remember her telling me she was working to get her children back. Her husband left her as the conditions at home were not safe for their children. I remember how different she looked when our children were in grade school. She had life. Her face was real. Her lipstick wasn't in a mess all around her lips. She was....battling and I had no idea. As my daughter asks me what is wrong, she sees the manager, just like I do, stop the woman and take the bottle of beer. She was headed for the restroom. She is startled. She thought she had made it. She coughs nervously. She bows her head. She is close. She is close to death. She has died to the world around her. She doesn't even see people's concern or confusion. She leaves the store empty handed and empty, just empty. As we place our groceries in the trunk, I scan the parking lot. She has faded into the afternoon heat in search of relief. In search of another store where she may be lucky enough to walk out with the only thing that matters to her right now. Another drink. She was a mother who wanted to get her children back.