{"id":342,"date":"2016-02-24T20:24:52","date_gmt":"2016-02-24T20:24:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sca-recovery.org\/WP\/?page_id=342"},"modified":"2017-01-29T18:04:14","modified_gmt":"2017-01-29T18:04:14","slug":"step-9","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sca-recovery.org\/WP\/stories-of-recovery\/sca-12-step-program-stories\/step-9\/","title":{"rendered":"Step 9 – Love Does Mean Having To Say You’re Sorry"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tMade direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others<\/font><\/span>
\n<\/h1>\n

\n\tLove Does Mean Having To Say You're Sorry<\/b>
\n\tby John K (NY)<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe setting is a coffee shop in Chelsea. Two young men are seated at a table, DAVE and ROBERT. Neither speaks as the lights come up. Dave finishes a
\n\tcup of coffee while Robert fiddles with his silverware.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tDAVE: I think I'll get another cup of coffee.
\n\tROBERT: You've had three already.
\n\tDAVE: Have I?
\n\tROBERT: Alright, Dave. Enough already.
\n\tDAVE: You're right, I've had enough. No more coffee.
\n\tROBERT: No, enough period. You send me a letter in the mail after two years of no contact at all. Then you call me and ask to meet for dinner at a well-lit coffee shop which, as you put it, "has no past meaning for us." 
\n\tDAVE: It doesn't have any meaning for us, does it?
\n\tROBERT: No, none at all. It's perfectly meaningless, just like this entire evening has been.
\n\tDAVE: Oh God, you're upset. I've done it, "except when to do so would injure them or others." Or in this case it's just you I'm injuring.
\n\tROBERT: What? Look, Dave. We've had dinner. We've discussed all the secret messages and plot devices of the X-Files movie. And you've obviously had enough coffee. So unless you want dessert I'd say this mysterious meeting is finished.
\n\tDAVE: No, not yet.
\n\tROBERT: You want dessert?
\n\tDAVE: No, I want to say I'm sorry.
\n\tROBERT: Huh?
\n\tDAVE: Rob, when we were together I was pretty selfish and I didn't appreciate all the good things we shared. I took our life together for granted. I took you for granted, Rob. The affair was the last straw for you, I know.
\n\tROBERT: Damn right it was.
\n\tDAVE: And I'm sorry. I know I hurt you and I never meant to. I was just so wrapped up in my own stuff, my own mess. Maybe I wasn't ready for a relationship at that time, I don't know. But I do know that I hurt a bunch of people in my crazy days. I've made a list of those people and you're at the top of that list. So I wanted to see you tonight just to say I'm sorry.
\n\tROBERT: Are you expecting me to say you're forgiven and everything's okay?
\n\tDAVE: No, I just wanted you to give me the chance to say I'm sorry, and you did that. Thanks. But if you want to forgive me….
\n\tROBERT: It'll take more than an "I'm sorry" and a cheap meal at a coffee shop.
\n\tDAVE: I know.
\n\tROBERT: But it is a start.
\n\tDAVE: Really?
\n\tROBERT: For two years I've been angry because I never heard you say those very words, "I'm sorry." You had the affair, I said we were finished, you said fine, and our life together ended just like that.
\n\tDAVE Yea, I remember.
\n\tROBERT: You have no idea how long I've needed to hear you say just that…Just a simple "I'm sorry."
\n\tDAVE: I am, Rob.
\n\tROBERT: I believe you. So what now?
\n\tDAVE: I don't know. Dessert maybe?
\n\tROBERT: Dessert would be nice.
\n\tDAVE: God, Ali McGraw had it all wrong.
\n\tROBERT: What?
\n\tDAVE: She's dying of leukemia and she turns to Ryan O'Neal and says "love means never having to say you're sorry."
\n\tROBERT: Not Love Story again, please.
\n\tDAVE: I thought that was the sweetest line, until now. It's not a sweet line, it's stupid, it's wrong. No, sometimes love does mean having to say you're sorry.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others Love Does Mean Having To Say You're Sorry by John K (NY) The setting is a coffee shop in Chelsea. Two young men are seated at a table, DAVE and ROBERT. Neither speaks as the lights come […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"parent":86,"menu_order":9,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-342","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sca-recovery.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sca-recovery.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sca-recovery.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sca-recovery.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sca-recovery.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sca-recovery.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/342\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":585,"href":"https:\/\/sca-recovery.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/342\/revisions\/585"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sca-recovery.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/86"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sca-recovery.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}