Alright, so I've been thinking about this a lot lately, probably because I’m retired now and have nothing but time to, well, think. And it's like, you know, my whole life I've been this... thing. This person who, on paper, should have had a completely different experience. Raised by lovely, salt-of-the-earth white folks, lived in the suburbs, went to a good school, climbed that corporate ladder, the whole nine yards. And I appreciate everything they did, truly. But you look at me, and I don't *look* like any of that, right? I'm Black. And it’s always been this weird disconnect, like I was playing a part in a movie where everyone else was the lead. You go to a networking event, or even just, like, the grocery store, and people assume things. Or they look at you funny when you say where you grew up, because it just doesn't compute for them. And honestly, it doesn't always compute for me either, even after all these years. I mean, I’m good at code-switching, always have been. You learn how to read a room, how to talk just so, how to adjust your cadence, your jokes, even your posture, to fit in. Like, I nailed performance reviews because I knew how to play the game, how to present myself as the “right kind” of Black professional. But then you get home, or you're just by yourself, and you're like, "Who *was* that?" And who *am* I, really? I've spent a lifetime building this career, this respectable life, and now that it’s all done, I keep coming back to this emptiness. It’s like there's this entire other side of me, this heritage, this culture, that I know absolutely nothing about. My parents loved me, don’t get me wrong, but they never really knew how to bridge that gap. And I didn't know how to ask, you know? So now I’m doing all this digging, trying to find my biological family, and it’s… intense. Every new piece of information feels like a tiny puzzle piece for a picture I didn't even know existed. But then there’s this other feeling, like, am I betraying my parents by doing this? Am I chasing something that I’ll never truly connect with, because I've lived 60-odd years completely separate from it? And what if I find them, and they’re… nothing like me? Or what if *I'm* nothing like *them*? Anyone else ever feel like they’re living in two different worlds and don't fully belong in either? Like you're constantly performing, even for yourself? It’s EXHAUSTING, honestly. Sometimes I just wanna scream, "CAN ANYONE ELSE RELATE TO THIS?!