One of the first lessons I learned is that blood can mean very different things to many different people. As a child of abuse, I’ve often ached and chased for a certain loyalty or companionship. I’ve loved any movie or book that had friends that were always there. Over the course of my life I’ve found those ties. Real friendship. A brotherhood, people I can tell anything to, real men, who experience a range of emotions and are vulnerable to share. We accept each other’s boundaries and it’s healthy. “Healthy” has been such a foreign concept to me.