Every Last Word

I remember a friend once accused me of being OCD as we worked on a group project. Though I cannot recall the exact situation, I am pretty sure I just wanted the letters on the poster to be straight. At the time, I did not say anything. In fact, I did not really understand the gravity of the accusation until I talked to my mom about it later.

I am definitely a Type A person, with tendencies that possibly borderline on OCD. Until I read this book, I never understood the true diagnosis of OCD, and how it inhibits a person's life. I realized how important it is to never accuse someone of having a disorder, because these disorders are very real and problematic.

In Every Last Word by Tamara Stone, Samantha McAllister, the main character, has obsessions become irrational. She is so attached to the number three that she will drive extra time to make sure the odometer ends in a three. She groups playlists, words, and occasions into threes. When she has an itch, she scratches it three times.

Instead of focusing on her disorder, the book expands to show the struggles of all people. The popular girls treat each other so poorly their friendships crumble after the slightest argument. A boy bullied for stuttering uses his guitar to overcome his speech impediment. Another girl is losing her mother to cancer. Some of the characters have eating disorders, others are depressed, some are heartbroken.

And yet, the novel is not depressing. It is an uplifting story of hope and perseverance.

My grandmother and my mom have this great saying regarding the problems of others. They always tell me, "If you are in a room with a bunch of people and you all threw your problems into the middle, you would take your own right back."

Everyone fights an uphill battle just to stay afloat. Life becomes a whole lot easier when we acknowledge other people's problems, instead of diminishing them. Then, like Samantha and her newfound poetry friends, we can conquer our problems together, not alone.