Not unlike many of the people I knew and grew up with I was raised by an extended family. And while it hadn’t been drugs, jail or simple neglect that tore me apart from my immediate family the after effects were all the same, an extra mouth to feed in a house already burdened by having too many mouths to feed. The one consolation for my new family was not only was they able to collect on SSI but I would routinely be the stress reliever, for whoever needed some stress released.