There are a few for me. They represent the happiest moments of my life — moments I’d be okay with if time just stopped right there.

When My Big Sister Taught Me My ABC’s

She had just learned them herself, but that didn’t matter. The feeling was that she cared — without conditions.

It still makes me smile, even though she’s no longer with us. She was special. Not just to me, but to the world. But often, the special ones are ignored, cast aside, and assumed broken. She just saw the world differently. And I loved her for that.

When I Graduated College

I felt like I gave my family and loved ones something to be proud of, not for me, but for us. For the longest time, I felt like it was never going to come. I was never going to finish. But once I did, I knew no one could take it from me.

Being Black — and being a Black male, it gave me a new sense of pride. I had done something not many of us even attempt. It gave my daughter an objective and a plan. It gave my cousins the feeling that they could do it too. And it allowed me to take care of my family financially. That diploma carried weight far beyond a frame on the wall.

My Daughter’s Birth

I knew I had to learn to be selfless, and had to grow up. Success required me to stop doing dumb ish.

I also got a chance to see what my mom and dad saw when they first saw me. Maybe not my dad, he had hopes the timing of my arrival would get pushed back. I’ll give him a break on that one. But I finally understood what everyone else saw when they first laid eyes on me. That feeling of holding your child for the first time rewires everything.

Where I Am Right Now

I wish I had more moments in time I could freeze right now. Life has been difficult lately. But I was built to overcome. I was built to succeed, built to be successful. I have all the tools, I just need to execute.

As I’ve said in previous posts, the cards are dealt, but it’s up to you how you play them. Don’t dwell. Search for the silver lining. Search for ways to make it out. It’s there. It takes work, but you just have to find it.

Never quit on you.

P.S. I felt like I was forgetting something — one of the best days of my life. The moment I wish I could freeze most was when Traci said, “I love you.” We were very young and had little time together, but somehow I knew it was real. I felt the same way. I just wasn’t sure why or how.

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| The Cards We are Dealt – Latrelle Brown | African Americans and College Education by the Numbers – Brian Bridges |