flew out of my head. “And you are here to get over yourself.”
His brow lifted but he remained silent.
I looked back at the kids. “Do you see the girl with the white hoodie on? That’s Eloise. When she was eleven, her English teacher noticed that she was falling asleep in class and had worn the same shirt and pants for three weeks. Her teacher made a call and a social worker found her at home, alone, caring for her three younger siblings, ages nine, seven, and five. After a little bit of investigation and talking to neighbors, they discovered that her mom had left six weeks earlier on a bender and Eloise hadn’t told anyone because she was scared that her siblings would be broken up. She’d fed them with food she found in dumpsters.
“Do you see that kid with the White Sox hat? That’s Dale. Dale’s been in foster care for ten years because when he was four his dad shot his mother right in front of him and then took off. It took three days for anyone to discover what had happened. The police were called after a neighbor complained about the smell coming from the apartment. He’d been alone with his mother’s lifeless body for three days. And as unimaginable and traumatizing as that was, it’s nothing compared to some of the things he’s endured in the twenty-seven foster homes he’s been in over the decade since he lost his mom.
“See the girl with the dark glasses and the blue hair? That’s Ivy. Ivy’s homelife was so abusive that she ran away from home at nine and lived on the streets for three years, alone, begging and stealing and doing anything she had to do to stay alive. When the system finally caught up with her at twelve, she became hysterical when she was told she would be going back to live with her parents. She sobbed and pleaded with her caseworker to let her stay on the streets because it was safer than what she would face at home.
“The guy with the earbuds bobbing his head and not making eye contact with anyone, that’s Ched. Ched’s mom was in a car accident when he was ten and was paralyzed from the neck down. She has to be bathed, dressed, and given medication and food through a tube. They don’t have enough money for live-in care. So, he has to arrange for family and friends to stay with her during the day when he’s in school and at his part-time jobs but at night he’s her sole caretaker. And as if that wasn’t hard enough, two years ago, his mom’s kidneys began failing. So on top of everything else, he got his hardship driver’s license at thirteen and has been driving his mom back and forth to dialysis appointments, working two part-time jobs, and he has a four-point two GPA.
“I can keep going but my point is everyone has problems in their life. Some of us more than others.” I waved my hand toward the kids before pointing it at Holden. “You have lived a charmed life. You grew up in a loving home with parents that supported you and sacrificed for your dreams. You’ve had an amazing career. You got to travel the world making a ton of money doing exactly what you loved doing. And yes, that got taken away from you. And yes, you are in a lot of pain and that’s not going to go away. And yes, you lost a commercial to a cocky kid who throws a lot of shade at you. And yes, you might have to walk with a cane for the rest of your life. And yes, you are depressed. Guess what? It could be a lot fucking worse.
“You have a family that loves you and wants to be there for you. You have friends and neighbors stopping by your house giving you homemade food and you don’t even have the decency to answer the door.
“And you have access to medical services that a lot of people only dream of. Your back hurts? Go to physical therapy. Go to yoga. Do the work to make it better. You’re depressed? Go see someone. Get on medication. You lost your commercial? Work with your manager to get a new deal. Take some responsibility for the quality of your life. Make the best out of what you have and be grateful for it.”