But what it takes to get there isn’t what you need once you’ve arrived.

A difficult realization, and a harder actualization.

I understand what this weekend means. Pulling back the curtain, he’s invited me to the chambers beyond. It’s not acceptance, not yet. It’s just a step further, closer. I must learn to navigate it. Through him, and Rach, I study this cultural capital. I learn what I’m meant to do. How I’m meant to live. What I’m supposed to enjoy. I watch, I emulate. It takes practice. And an understanding of what’s out of reach. What I can’t pull off.

Born here, parents born here, always lived here – still, never from here. Their culture becomes parody on my body.