Life has gifted me family in so many different ways. Today, I am thankful for new and old colliding. For learning and growing together even though it feels like lifetimes have already been lived and we are just now discovering them.

for my chosen brother. 

The mind races like a storm with no horizon—
thoughts crashing, overlapping, a tempest of everything,
and yet somehow, nothing at all.

It’s a storm of noise and silence, all at once.

Focus?
It bounces like a child’s rubber ball,
escaping your grasp just as your fingers reach out.
Ideas slip, not because you are careless,
but because your hands are already so full.

And the weight of this life?
It’s heavy sometimes, 

like the sky fell on your shoulders
and forgot to leave room for light.
The darkness doesn’t knock—it seeps,
quiet, uninvited, curling around the edges of everything.

You carry it all—what else can you do?
You carry it all, and keep moving, too.

I see the strength it takes to get out of bed
when the weight wants to anchor you there.
I see the courage in your chaos,
the beauty in your bouncing,
the poetry in a mind that refuses to sit still.

Your thoughts may scatter on the stormy winds,
but I know this:

There is a brilliance in the way your brain moves;
spinning storms into light,

turning shadows into vibrant hues,

bringing color to a sepia-toned world.

You are not broken.
You were never intended to be a telescope.

You are a kaleidoscope—
turning, shifting, endlessly vibrant. 

Offering perspectives that could never come

from a steady gaze in one direction.

I won’t pretend storms in the darkness are easy to weather,
But dear brother, fellow traveler, we’re stronger together.

You are truly valued.
Not for what you do,
not for what you produce,
but for the simple, unshakable truth of your being.

Thank you.
Thank you for existing,
for showing up in all your messy, marvelous ways.
You are a gift my world doesn’t deserve,
but desperately needs.
Even on the hard days—especially on the hard days—
I hope you know you are more than enough.