![]() ![]() In one typical instance, Erlbaum is en route to the hospital when she “decide(s) to stop at the donut shop.” Her stomach is growling as she carries the donuts up to Sam’s room. Despite the profound redundancy of such days, Erlbaum seems loath to let them go by without description. Soon, Erlbaum’s life consists exclusively of riding the subway to Sam’s institution du jour, visiting, then returning home to eat dinner and smoke pot. But Erlbaum is in it for the long haul, and she’s taking her audience along every step of the way. ![]() It quickly becomes apparent that Sam is a very sick person, and that she will spend much of her future institutionalized. Since Sam is “a rare specimen, a real unicorn”, Erlbaum cannot bear to sever their ties - not when Sam is hospitalized for her infected hand, not when she is transferred to a psych ward, nor when she leaves the psych ward for rehab. She curses herself for not having more in common with Sam, “‘Damn it,’ I thought, ‘why didn’t I ever do any heroin?” ![]() Erlbaum immediately begins breaking the rules of the shelter where she volunteers and Sam lives, bringing presents and meeting her in public places. Brandishing a hand cast and a vocabulary that shames those of non-junkies twice her age, Sam is a bright, vulnerable girl who shares Erlbaum’s love of literature and writing. When Janice Erlbaum, author of Have You Found Her, meets homeless teenage junkie Samantha, she’s instantly smitten. ![]()
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