I got all my sisters and me

I spent more time with family this past weekend than I have all year so far. Both of my sisters were in town from VA and Vegas so my entire weekend was dedicated to them. I cooked, took one of them and her husband on a tour of the city, and got to see my niece dance at church. In 23 years of life, I've never felt closer to my sisters. Growing up I lived with one of my sisters, and the other one lived in Michigan with my brothers and my dad. The sister I lived with was 7 years older than me so we didn't really hang out at all. I was practically an only child, my dad always stressed my relationship with my siblings. He used to tell me that we needed to be close because we would only have each other after he died. At the time of his death, we were closer, but not as close as he would've liked. Since then we've all leaned on each other yet drifted as well. Distance is like termites on the foundation of a relationship. It slowly eats away at it until the foundation itself breaks and the relationship has nothing to support it. This has we're spread out across the country, so distance has definitely been an issue. We're all making an effort to stay in touch through FB groups, texts, calls, etc. But we have our own lives and families as well. We're in a similar situation that the Miami Heat were in this past season. Creating and maintaining a group dymanic with people who have operated as individuals for years. It's not easy. Removing the distance made things so much easier. We were a natural part of each other's lives instead of an interuption. Hopefully this weekend strengthens the foundation enough for us to continue to build better relationships with each other.

My best friend.

Tonight, for the first time ever, I needed you and you weren't just a call away.

Miss you man.

Being Black

When it comes to being black, I've spent my entire life on the outside looking in. I was separated from my family by divorce. Separated from my peers by labels. And separated from my people by fear.

Big Brother

Today is my little brother's birthday. How old is he? I don't know. In fact I only know one siblings age with absolute certainty. How crazy is that? Two brothers, two sisters, and I only know how old one of them is for sure. I never really felt that bad about it though. Growing up I wasn't really around to celebrate their birthdays with them, nor was I told how old they were. I had a million excuses to pad the feeling of guilt. That is until today. Yesterday I spoke with my dad on the phone, he told me that my little brother's birthday was today. I said something generic like "ok" or "that's cool." Didn't ask how old he was or what his number was so that I could call him, just "ok." Today around noon my phone rang with a number I didn't recognize. As usual with numbers like that, I ignored the call and let it go to voicemail. A few minutes later I checked the voicemail. It was my little brother.

This is family business...

"Do you remember when the family was everything" -John Legend- It don't have to change