I have a friend who was worse off than I ever was. He was gone in every way a person can be gone and I did not think he was coming back. He has years now. A job, a son who calls him, mornings he remembers.

I keep him in mind on the hard days. If you are out there tonight and you have decided there is no version of this that ends well for you, I am telling you there is. I have watched it happen more than once, to people nobody was betting on, just like no one was betting on me.