FINDING HOME – My Journey
Director, writer, actor, athlete, producer… I’ve been called all of these, and yet, at times, I’ve felt like none of them. For years, I couldn’t quite define who I was—and eventually, I realized that’s because I didn’t really know myself. I was always searching.
I was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, alongside my twin brother—two of six children from the same mother, each of us with different fathers. Our early life was unstable. After a short, difficult stay in foster care, our aunt took us in. She became more than family—she became our mom.
We were surrounded by cousins, by weekend family gatherings, by what looked and felt like love. But even then, I often felt a quiet loneliness. A sense that something was missing.
When she married the man we now call Dad, we moved to Arizona. Life shifted. For the first time, doors opened. I discovered music, football, and track. I became a Junior Olympian. My brother and I earned full football scholarships to Indiana University. On paper, I was thriving.
But there were still gaps in my identity that achievements couldn’t fill. No trophy, no accolade, could silence the inner questions I didn’t know how to ask.
After college, I moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film. I was chasing purpose, chasing myself. And then my biological mother passed away. I felt sadness—but mostly, I felt guilt. I never got to sit with her. I never got to ask the questions I’d carried my whole life.
Then, unexpectedly, my biological father reached out.
And everything shifted again.
In that moment, I began to understand. The disconnection, the searching, the emotional distance—it all began to make sense. And for the first time, I realized: I was never truly alone. I was always me. Deep down, I think I always knew I was meant for something more—not just to achieve, but to share. To heal. To understand.
FINDING HOME is my story. But it’s also the story of so many adoptees. It’s about identity, reunion, grief, guilt, and ultimately—belonging. Because sometimes, the home you’ve been searching for… has been with you all along.
