The Voyager’s Blog

When I was in the USA, I lived in the midtown area of Atlanta…which was lovely! I was told this was the “gay area” by someone in hushed tones, but honestly I didn’t see the problem – all I saw were friendly strangers who liked to give compliments, and some great brunch establishments! How could anyone hate that?! Certainly always put a smile on my face!

But anyway, this was a little far to travel for some friends who lived outside of the city, so I would hop on the MARTA train and meet them half-way at Bankhead Station…then we’d drive out to some random diner, restaurant, or coffee shop for a catch up on the latest shenanigans…

One of these times stands out, and has been turning over, and over, and over in my head recently – I’m sure it won’t take a genius to work out why…

I was travelling in Canada (I’m from England) and stopped to buy a drink at a little grocery store.

An oldish looking guy followed me out and asked if I had a cigarette. I gave him a cigarette and lit one up and he started asking about the tattoos on my arms. I told him the stories behind them all and noticed he only had one on his forearm. 

In a small, nondescript font it said “Just for today”

I asked him the story behind it and what followed was a tale of him doing every hard drug and [sleeping with] every woman who came his way for 30 years. He had been clean and sober for 12 months at this point after joining a 12 step program and he explained how just for today was one of the steps and it meant that no matter how bad the cravings…