Every crossing leaves something in us we can’t always name. I capture it, root it, free it — for me & you.

Little brother — you are waiting to feel ready. I have to tell you: the feeling never arrives on time. I stepped onto the mat at the CBJJE scared, and the gold came anyway. Twenty years later I still hover over the send button, rereading a message no one asked me to polish.

So learn it earlier than I did. Ready is made by starting, not before it. The draft, the ask, the first move — they ripen in the open, not in the drawer. Press send. God helps the honest ones.

— Husam