Renn McGormick is 17 years old and has been living on his own for eight months now. He currently lives in his grandmother’s old house after enduring an abusive relationship with his parents for years. Eventually, he was kicked out of their house and forced to live on his own without any direction or guidance. His grandmother is the only member of his family who helps provide McGormick with food and money to sustain on his own.

​

“The night before I left, my father chased me around the house and beat me,” says McGormick. “I was bleeding and had bruises everywhere. That same night they kicked me out of the house and told me to never come back. Before today, I haven’t talked to them since.”

​

McGormick has had to grow up much faster than most children his age. Even though he is only a senior in high school he has had to learn how to feed himself, pay bills, renovate and make repairs, find transportation, and apply for universities all on his own. This isolation has made it difficult for him to maintain a positive social life. Most of his friends are living in a condition similar to McGormick’s so trying to meet up can become very strenuous. This means that he spends much of his days alone.

​

When he is not in school, McGormick will pass time by doing yard work for neighbors, cleaning and reorganizing his house, or endlessly watching movies.

​

“Sometimes I will watch movies from the moment I wake up 'til I fall asleep,” McGormick says. “I don’t know what else to do.”

​

McGormick will turn 18 on December 24, 2015 and will finally be able to legally detach from his parents. Although he has qualified for several different services from the government to help him financially from the government, he will no longer have the weight of feeling like they still own him. While he doesn’t want to cut them from his life completely, this is a big step for him moving forward.

​

Even though he rarely talks to his parents anymore he does not want to have a negative relationship with them.

​

“The last time I talked to my parents before today was eight months ago,” says McGormick. “My dad just commented on one of my senior pictures saying, ‘looking good son.’ He didn’t even know I took senior pictures.”

​

December 7, 2015 was the first time Renn had seen his parents in almost eight months. He had to collect some important belongings they had been keeping from him. Renn’s stepsister, Destiny McGormick, has been living with her dad for only a few months. She had run away from her mother and has been hiding there ever since.

​

McGormick will be attending Mid Michigan Community College in the fall of 2016 to play basketball. He aspires to one day become an accountant so that he can make a lot of money. His first big paycheck will be used to renovate his house, which includes adding flooring, redoing the roof, painting the walls, and fixing broken appliances.

​

While McGormick has had more than a series of unfortunate events in his life, his aspirations reflect nothing less than a kid with a very bright future ahead of him. Sometimes when life hands you lemons, you just have to make lemonade.