As anyone who uses Facebook has seen, the tributes to Prince started showing up fast and furious the minute he passed.

One really spoke to me in particular, and that one pointed out how Prince had such amazing success against all odds.

Obviously, I was not alone in being really shaken by Prince’s death, but with that post, I understood what was really stirred up in me.

I suspect that as people affected by addiction or the family disease of addiction, we all know something about the odds being against us.

The obstacles in these circumstances, or in the face of any kind of trauma, are immense.

And I could really see a parallel here.

It’s easy to forget what Prince started with. A 5’2″ effeminate black man born to a broken family with very little means in the rough and tumble neighborhood of northeast Minneapolis.

If the circumstances were any indication, this man was not supposed to succeed.

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