So, she was lucky enough to be able to work, perhaps? Was she able to participate in extracurricular activities (not everyone can). "Broken Family" is used for

So, she was lucky enough to be able to work, perhaps? Was she able to participate in extracurricular activities (not everyone can). "Broken Family" is used for simple divorce cases or death in the family: These are not death sentences. She was lucky enough not to get pregnant too young, which can basically mean that she could get birth control and didn't have mishaps, which might include rape or incest related pregnancies. A woman I knew... her son got a full scholarship to university because he played baseball. He never got to finish school - because he wound up having a genetic condition that didn't allow him to play. Your friend didn't have these sorts of health concerns. It isn't that it is all luck, sure. Yes, she had to work hard. But lots of her luck was already there. She probably wasn't Amish, for example, otherwise she wouldn't have school after 8th grade or something. She wasn't sick. She didn't have cancer. She probably wasn't starving. And so on. Even if she had some of these, you've witnessed an exception, not a rule.