We Are Called to Rise

Nate is upset that his parents are separating and selling their house; Avis is glad because she thinks Nate is taking her side. When Avis arrives at Nate and Lauren’s house to drop off a box, the door is open, so she walks in unannounced. She finds her son with his wife’s arm in a “vise grip” and shouts at him to let go. Avis threatens to call 911 and takes out her phone, waiting for her son to release Lauren. For a moment, Avis worries that Nate has lost control. Nate finally releases Lauren and yells at Avis for walking into his house without knocking, which Avis knows is an absurd excuse.

Avis has a flashback of four-year-old Nate playing on a kid’s soccer team. She recalls how after the first game Nate never participated or chased after the ball. Avis and Jim tried encouraging him to become involved in games and even bribed Nate with dimes. At the end of the season, Avis realized that her son wasn’t involved because they had never bought him all of the necessary soccer gear—including shin guards—and when she was accidentally kicked by a kid on the team, she realized how much pain her son must have been in.