while in middle school, the parents would enroll me in the delphian school summer program, where more than an open mind, the price of admission had me introduced to a reality of social status, and that identity could be built on anything, even illusion / romans 12:2 / #inktober
washington was notably inviting. yet with stuff mixed up inside, i couldn't help but feel separate from the rest - with the closest voices near to me being subculture, rap albums, and little brother / judges 16:16 / #inktober
moving to the pacific northwest, i began to struggle with this unrooted sense of home, and the burden it had on friendship and future. so i buried it, fashioning an identity on the value of belonging / matthew 11:28 / #inktober
as far as i can remember it, it was here in italy when hurt took on real meaning - meaning that would reveal itself for years to come / john 14:27 / #inktober
mom and dad say that i was a good kid, in school, sports, music lessons, as big brother. maybe it was fear, to live up to the expectation, avoiding disappointment and conflict, that had me hide the trouble so well - but that's how they remember it / hebrews 12:11 / #inktober
having a little brother meant something. why it took almost losing that something to see it - yet another clue to the greater mystery / proverbs 17:17 / #inktober
they worked so hard, mom and dad, but they were mom and dad, not too many memories of us relating back then. and the kids at school, they were my friends, but by the look of it, we were different - differences that had me feeling "other," and at that age, maybe i blamed my parents for it / the song of songs 4:7 / #inktober
for all the foreign and unfamiliar, i do believe that mom and dad did the very best they could, to see it all count for something / deuteronomy 1:31 / #inktober
