Family Matters

Sam wakes up and stares at the ceiling. It's Sunday and NBA playoffs are starting in 2 hours. He groggily stirs around internally debates a proper amount of time to lay in bed before he needs to get up an make some coffee. A day of nothing awaits him.

Brandon wakes up, rolls over, and stares at the wall. It's Sunday and the NBA playoffs begin in 4 hours. He lays motionless and tries to figure out the best way to collect his belongings without waking the 6 other men in his room. A day of nothing awaits him.

There are exactly 13 different flavors of K-cups in Sam's coffee wheel. He disapprovingly grunts and it becomes apparent he wishes there was a 14th. Blindly, he selects one and plops it into the machine, impatiently waiting out the 17 seconds it takes the machine to produce his perfectly brewed cup of coffee.

There are exactly 2 types of coffee on the counter in the breakfast room at the shelter: caffeinated and decaf. Brandon is early enough to ensure himself some caffeine and he thankfully fills mug. About 10 minutes later he is finished and washing out his cup so sometime else can use it.

The game starts and Sam is entertaining a few close friends. Pizza and chicken wings serve as the first course of a buffet that will stretch the entirety of the game. Each person occupies a Barca lounger or a couch with an optimum view of the 70-inch, HD flat screen. Drinks flow while laughter and camaraderie fill up every inch of the television room as the game soon takes backseat to side conversations and merriment.

The game starts and Brandon is watching in the recreation room with 5 people he does not know. His bottle of water is permitted in the room because it has a lid but there are a few others who have smuggled in juice boxes. The folding chairs are arranged in a semicircle facing the card table supporting the box television. The antenna captures a decent picture but periodically the screen dances and fizzles before returning to a watchable state. It is silent, save for the occasional cough or clearing of a throat.

Halftime emerges with pie, cake, and a few other assorted desserts. Sam is a hospitable host and he excuses himself when his phone rings and he accepts the collect call from 2 time zones away.

Halftime emerges with most everyone else gone. Brandon quietly ambles down the hall and makes a collect call to his brother in Philadelphia.

***

Sometimes there is a thin line separating family members who are housed and who are homeless. Circumstances and geography might create chasms that are not easily overcome. One of the chief reasons for homelessness in the Flathead Valley is a result of people who have exhausted their stay with family members who can no longer provide food and shelter. And while it seems unfathomable that a parent or sibling could reach a point where housing another family member was no longer an option, this happens a great deal.