Sometimes I just think about Andrew Minyard and how much trauma he had in his young life and how cruelly he was mistreated and the price he was asked to pay for even the most corrupt shred of support and love.
And then I think about how, after all that, and not with decades of numbness and distance at his behest, he allowed himself to be vulnerable with someone. However cautious he was about it, however hard it was for him to express emotions, to admit that he cared, he still did it. He did the thing. He pulled people close to him. He faithfully attended therapy sessions and opened up in them. He worked on his relationship with Aaron. He bonded with Renee. He forged a grudging mutual respect with Wymack. He kept Kevin’s head above water. And when someone saw through his apathy, he allowed himself to be reached out to. He trusted someone to know him. He let Neil take over some of his self-defining responsibilities. He put in the time and the work to get off the drugs.
When Neil was taken, he felt something. When Neil came back, he allowed those feelings out.
I am older than I’d like to be, and I went through a lot less than Andrew did, and sometimes when I think about how hard Andrew worked to build a life and get better, it gives me some weird kind of hope. Teary, scary hope, but hope.
So, here’s to you, Andrew Minyard. The unlikeliest role model.
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