I learned early to ignore the casual insults they tossed around—“hateful,” “evil,” “monsters,” “stupid”—for the simple fact that I knew my family. Not only did these descriptors fail to capture the essence of the people I knew and loved, they were diametrically opposed to it. Nearly all of the adults in my orbit were college graduates, many with postgraduate degrees in law, business, and public administration. Whether they chose to pursue work in health care, corrections, or information technology, their careers flourished. They were natural comedians, clever and creative, and I’d often laugh
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