I Beat the Odds_ From Homelessness, to the Blind Side, and Beyond - Michael Oher [48]
But suddenly I discovered that I had a lunch account. I can't remember who told me, specifically, but I just know that one day I was told that I could just get whatever I needed in the lunch line and it would be covered. The feeling of relief that day was huge. I was starting to see God at work around me; I had a need, it was met. That's pretty powerful.
Later I would find out it was Sean Tuohy who was my cafeteria sponsor. I should have guessed it was him because he seemed especially interested in getting to know me. He was a volunteer coach for the basketball team, so I had gotten a chance to talk with him a little bit at the end of the season my sophomore year, when I first started to play. He did a lot with the track team then because his daughter, Collins, was on the team.
I had noticed him before I even started playing basketball, when I would sit in the bleachers to watch practice and remind myself of why I was working as hard as I was. He seemed like a smart coach and a nice guy. He must have noticed me, too, because he came over and talked to me one day. It wasn't much--just a little introduction--but then I saw him again when I started playing ball and when track started up; it was nice to feel like I had a connection to one of the coaches. It would still be a long time before I would be a part of his family, though.
SCHOOL HOLIDAYS WERE SCARY TIMES FOR ME. Every other kid would be so excited about the break, talking about where their family was going on vacation or how late they were planning to sleep in. But I dreaded the times when the school would be closed. It was easy to catch a ride home with someone after practice, and then stay the night. But no school meant no practice, which also potentially meant no place to sleep. Like I said, if any one of the families I was staying with had realized that I really had nowhere to go, I know they would have welcomed me without a second thought. But I didn't volunteer the information. In truth, my mother was back on drugs and I was afraid to go back to my old neighborhood because I felt like it might swallow me up one day and never let me back out.
Thanksgiving break of my junior year was just one of those times. A big winter storm was moving in, with sleet and wind. That was okay, though, because I had decided that I would go to the gym at the old campus to shoot hoops. I bundled up the best I could in long pants and a sweatshirt, and set off. I felt responsible, like I was doing my homework for basketball. And I felt some pride and ownership of that space: It was my school, and since I was part of the team, it was my gym, too. I knew it would be warm there, and sheltered. It seemed to me like heading to the gym was a smart decision, given the situation. It never occurred to me that it might not be open.
I didn't even notice the silver BMW that drove past me that November morning; the part of town I was walking through is full of BMWs. It wasn't until the car turned around and pulled up to me that I realized Coach Tuohy was driving, and there was a very tiny, very loud lady sitting next to him. When they told me that the gym was closed, I agreed to let them take me to a bus stop.
A week or two later, once school was back in session, Coach Harrington talked to me after practice one day to tell me that one of the parents at school wanted to take me shopping for some new clothes. Would I be okay with that? I wasn't sure why anyone would want to go shopping with me, but I agreed. The next day Coach Tuohy's wife, Leigh Anne, loaded me up in her car and we headed to a big and tall men's shop I knew of on my end of town.
She still teases me about all the striped rugby shirts I picked out, and that scene made it into the movie. But what the film doesn't show is the hideous