Waiting for Permission to Exist

There are stories about you that you'll never remember yourself. Stories from before you could form memories. Someone else has to tell you, and then you spend the rest of your life carrying a story that's supposed to be about you but doesn't feel like it's yours. When I was a newborn in Delmas 30, Haiti, my family says something came for me at night. Lougawou—what outsiders might c...

It's October 2025. I'm sitting in a small apartment in Columbus, Ohio, looking at a photo my mother sent from Haiti. It's my little sister Mamay. I stared at it for ten minutes before realizing something that made my chest tight—I didn't recognize her face. Not right away. This is how it starts: the story of what 'making it' really costs.

A preview of what this podcast is about. Five years of separation. Four countries. One question I still can't answer: Was it worth it?