Bradley and Charlie have been friends since before they started school. Which has been a good thing for Bradley as his parents didn’t take care of him the way they should have and they still don’t. Which has cause Bradley to go through things no, teen should ever have to do and now he is facing his own version of growing up right now too.
And it’s not just about working or earning money. It’s everything happening around it. He’s been working more consistently and trying to figure out how to manage money in a real-world way. Not just getting paid and spending it, but stretching it, planning it, and making it last.
And like Charlie, he’s realizing something important — life costs more than you think when you’re the one actually responsible for it. That’s where things like plasma donations or side work come in. Not as extras, but as real ways people fill the gap while building something better.
And that realization changes how you see adulthood. But Bradley’s situation has another layer to it. He’s been learning things about his mom that don’t match what he grew up believing. And that kind of shift doesn’t just pass through quickly.
It sticks. It makes you question things. It makes you rethink memories. It makes you rethink your own foundation. Now he’s in that space where nothing feels fully settled. Not the past. Not the present. Not even what comes next with him and Ghost.
And still — he’s showing up. He’s working. He’s trying. He’s figuring out how to stay steady while carrying things that don’t have easy answers. And that’s what I see most in him right now. A young man trying to swim instead of sinking and that is where my family comes in.
Not certainty. Not perfection. Just effort. And honestly, that’s what growing up really is at this stage. Trying to keep going while life is still shifting under your feet. Or at least that is how it’s been for Charlie and Bradley the last couple weeks.
And maybe this is what this stage of life really looks like. Not big announcements. Not clean transitions. Just young adults trying to build their lives while still figuring themselves out at the same time. And the thing that stands out most to me is how close Charlie and Bradley are through all of it.
They’re not just family — they’re closer than that. More like brothers in the way they show up for each other, check on each other, and stay connected even when life is pulling them in different directions. Bradley has been around more often lately, even while paying rent and staying in his grandfather’s house, has only made that bond stronger.
And as a mom watching both of them grow at the same time, I’m learning something too. I don’t get to slow it down. I don’t get to control the outcome anymore. I just get to watch it happen. And be here when it does which as a parent I’m proud to be able to do and share with and to share with David.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
