Montero Ford

Anger issues and a fiery temper. Violence on the ice; Leaving people black and blue after a game. Pure aggression; Serving penalties and getting benched. An ice hockey scholarship to college. Juggling school, work, and life at home; What a challenge. The middle child keeping the family together, making sure everyone makes it through another day. A father with Alzheimer’s, barely able to recognize his own children; An overworked mom working hard to pay the medical bills; An older brother battling alcoholism; and a younger sister going through the horrible teen years. Not able to just watch his family fall apart, he would do whatever it would take. Making every day work on barely 4 hours of sleep, but if that was what it took for his family to get through another day, so be it. The days his mother would lash out due to stress? He would tell her to take a day off and he would skip school to take an extra shift at work. Every day she would be coming home, collapsing on the bed after work. He was the one cooking the meals and doing the laundry, driving his sister to school, and stopping by the hospital to check up on his father. The days his brother would come home drunk barely able to get out of the cab on his own? He would be the one carrying him to bed; Be the one putting out water, Adderal, and a bucket; Be the one getting on at 4 am to clean up vomit and change the bedsheets. When called by his brother who was sitting in the bar, card declined, unable to pay the tab? He would be the one showing up, paying up out of his own wallet so his brother could go home for another night. When his sister would cry herself to sleep for another night? He would be the one to comfort her; Telling her everything would be okay again, hold her all night. He was the grown-up at home; He was the one making sure their lives weren’t falling apart more than they could handle. But the pressure from home left him with not much patience left for the rest of the world. Life wasn’t fair. Taking out his frustrations on everyone else because his family did not need another member on the verge of a breakdown. They could not afford to have him fall apart too. Acting immaturely in public because he had to be the adult at home. Being out of home was his way of winding off from the responsibilities; Only out of home he could act his age. One of the guys; Your stereotypical college boy. He would have been a perfect fit for a fraternity. Yet with the challenges at home, the only taste he got of the greek life was the frat parties, and it’s not unlikely to find him there; Sweet talking sorority girls and downing jägerbombs as if they were water.