Do we always win?

Saw the saddest thing in a very long time in the school holidays. Sam was one of the coolest kids I've ever taught. He was the ultimate country kid. He fished, shot possums, made toys, swam in the creek, was a fit as a fiddle and had the brightest eyes on any kid. When we moved up north my boy was 2 years old and came to school every day and hung out with the groundsman (uncle Nudd) and just generally cruised around with the kids. Sam went home one day and got some plywood and a jigsaw and cut out a gun shape he sanded it up and gave it to my son. Thats a great kid. So he had older brothers who smoke weed, mum and dad work 24/7 and Sam was the baby. Sam told me he never wants to sit under the trees and drink and get wasted. He said it was for losers. So now 11 years later sam is a dad of 2, he is a weed smoking, drinking, skulking, hiding under a hoodie loser. This seems so harsh for me to write him off, in fact it hurts, but its true. While at the beach I saw the boys drinking so went over to say hello. Everyone looks threatening, bandannas, baggy jeans, hoodies - no worries I bowl up and have a laugh. Sam sat on the grass with his beautiful two year old between his legs, he had his arms around her, if he was holding a toy and talking to her it would be a beautiful picture. Instead sam had a bowl of marijuana heads and dried leaves and he was sorting out the weed for smoking, the only thing between sam and the bowl was his daughter - boy it was sad.

He has a job, he is still a good guy on the inside, but his daughter is now in a spiral that has already started to spin.

Sad, it's bloody sad.