“My grandmother got me a violin when I was thirteen. Whenever...

“My grandmother got me a violin when I was thirteen. Whenever people were fighting, and I wanted to get away, I’d just go in my room and play. Sometimes I’d play for four or five hours per night. It gave me a lot of confidence. I started playing in front of the church, in front of the school— it made me feel good about myself. But my mom struggled a lot. She made a lot of mistakes. She got in some bad relationships and we lived in a lot of different places. Sometimes we’d go weeks without having power. One time it got really bad and we had to start selling our stuff. She didn’t ask me to sell my violin. But we’d already sold our TV. And she just asked if I had any ideas. I ended up selling it to a friend for $145. I was really upset for a while. I’m a Christian, and God knew how much I loved the violin. So I was confused why he’d make me sell it. For a few months, I tried to keep playing in the music room at school. But eventually I had to stop so I could focus on paying the bills. I got a real job at the grocery store.”