I’ve always enjoyed a good coming-of-age story. Generally, these are stories about young people becoming adults and are marketed to youth accordingly. But, coming-of-age stories are more than that. They’re about growing up, realizing one’s mistakes, understanding one’s self, finding truth. And those stories are not just limited to youth, both in the sense of protagonist and in the market.

Trials of divorce, unlikely challenges, and unexpected change affect us at any age. Stories of people who overcome and grow through these are not only stories of the young but of the human condition.

The primary thing I glean from coming-of-age stories?

Hope.

Hope exists for all of us, to overcome, to persevere, to make it through the trial.

And that’s not a fairy tale.