The ultimate set up is the living conditions of the less fortunate. From food desserts to metropolitan areas with insufficient public transportation to gentrification forcing those same people out of their homes…

It’s a long list, but the final result is limiting the ways children growing up in this environment can get out and stop and/or reverse the trend.

I was fortunate to be raised by a single mother who did everything to ensure I wasn’t raised in those conditions. While that meant I didn’t see her as much as my other affluent friends, I am grateful for her sacrifice and don’t want to imagine what the other journey looked like.

Or what it looks like nowadays for those attempting to get out.

Between a backyard, a forest incorporated within the community to buffer the highway and full-service parks within walking distance, I had green spaces to run and play on. It doesn’t seem like much unless you don’t have it.

Then it seems like Nirvana or Valhalla or another ancient European word Americans have forcibly added into their lexicon.

But even without that, those that are adamant about their intentions will find a way.