Headphones and Heartaches

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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You know how sometimes just the right book comes at just the right time? A book you don't realize you needed until it had done its job on your psyche? As you've probably guessed, that's what Headphones and Heartaches was for me. So, yeah, this is going to be a rave. It's also going to be shorter than I want it to be, but that's only because this won't ever get posted if I keep tweaking and rewriting it (this was supposed to go up seven days ago).

“One day you're gonna look back and realize these are the best days of your life.”

I'm living in a foster home while my mother is getting treatment for a heroin addiction. If these are the best days, maybe I should just give up now.

HEADPHONES AND HEARTACHES ABOUT

* I should devote 3-4 paragraphs to her, but I don't have the time, but she's a great character

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The 3.5mm jack connects my favorite artists right into my soul like an IV, securing my hopes and dreams that wither under the assault of everyday life. They've been there on the nights when the heat wasn't, at the dinner table when the food wasn't, reminding me that better times would come, even if they couldn't give me an estimated arrival date.

HEADPHONES AND HEARTACHES

On Wheel of Fortune there's always one guy that keeps asking for letters even though it's clear to everyone else what the answer is. I feel like that guy right now, because in my heart I know the answer, I'm just hoping that it's the wrong one.