Resilience

A few years ago, I met a young man named Cody Coleman. Cody's story begins in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution, where his mother was serving time for threatening to kill the child of a senator. Cody's childhood was chaotic and uncertain. When he told me the bare facts, my heart broke for the little boy who, against all odds, grew up to thrive in every possible sense of the word. Today, Cody is completing his PhD in computer science at Stanford. He is exceptionally kind. He smiles more easily than any other person I know. And he signs off every email with “make it a good day.”