It is Saturday, February 25, 2017 at 4:05pm EST. I am sitting at the kitchen table. More on that later.

After leaving Washington D.C., we continued to head South. Again, this experience is not just us aimlessly driving around the country doing random things. I want every stop and every experience to have a purpose.

Last week my son went with his cousin and his family to Atlanta, GA. They visited the home of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, the Coca Cola museum, and did a number of other activities. Here is a picture...

The man to the far right in this picture is named Khalfani. Khalfani is the father of my sons cousin, Khafani Jr, Khalfani the third, or Khalfani whatever he is. His son and my son are like brothers. The trip was his idea. He took a total of 10 children, and his child's mother. 

For most of my life, I did not like Khalfani. I actually hated him. When I was in high school and shortly after, he and his family had an issue with my friends. To be quite honest, I am not even sure what the issue was about. I had nothing to do with it. Despite any of that, I am extremely loyal and I was siding with my friends no matter what.

I even went as far as to talk about this man in my book. I stated that he was always in and out of jail. I stated that he did not take care of his children. I did not care, because again I did not like him and I was always ready for whatever. 

I couldn't have been any more wrong and out of line though. I had no idea what circumstances that man came from. When faced with difficult situations, no options, and no hope...  humans are led to do things that may be illegal in order to survive. Is it immoral for a woman who has been denied disability, housing, child support, and food stamps to go to a grocery store to steal food for her family? I know in my past I have broken the law when I was in survival mode. I was JUST LIKE THIS MAN. The only difference between him and I is that I did not get caught. And I had the nerve to talk about him? I was wrong. For that, I wanted to say that I am truly sorry. 

I wrote that book about 8 years ago. Since then, Khalfani's story has been a story of redemption. He got out of prison and got his life together. He now does legitimate work. He is humble enough to do stupid stuff like sleep outside of stores to resell items. He coupons. He resells vehicles. He does a lot of stupid little odd jobs that "established" people would not do. He also gives other people who have come home from prison opportunities to work for him. 

Will him and I ever have dinner together? Probably not. Do I think his Facebook name is corny? Absolutely. Despite any of that, that man and I are civil. For 20 years I was harboring hate for no reason. He does a great job of keeping families happy and together. I see numerous examples of it all the time. Here are some... 

So again with all of that being said, I hope Khalfani will accept my apology. I wanted him to know that I feel like your story is admirable and should be recognized, which is why I decided to share it. I always wanted others to know that it is stupid to harbor hate. 

Peace and Love.

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So on Monday I knew I would be headed to Atlanta, but I wouldn't be there until Wednesday. My son was leaving Monday. What was I going to do? Enter this man... 

This mans name is Christopher Wallace. Yes, he has the same name as the rapper. He is no rapper though. If you are from my hometown you do not know him, but he is my brother. 

I found out who he was at around the same time I found out who my father was... which was about 9 years ago. Since our very first conversation we hit it off. We spoke for about an hour, but it felt like it was five minutes. 

Over the years my brother and I have developed a great relationship. He is truly my big brother. Throughout my life I was always the man of the house. I never had a dad, big brother, or anything like that. I mean I had mentors, but nobody that was ever constant. My brother really humbles me. His knowledge is so vast. His perspective and insight on everything is eye opening. His wisdom is amazing. He really sits me down and schools me. I love it. I never knew how much I needed it until I had it. I guess that is kind of like having a dad. More on that later. 

Anyway... my brother lives in the Atlanta area. When I told my brother my son was in town and that I was planning on picking him up in a few days, he dropped everything he was doing and went and picked him up. He let him stay with him. He cleared his calendar and showed my son around Atlanta. And when I say cleared his calendar... that is no small thing. My brother has many jobs, one being a background singer for a band entitled "The Heavy." My brother has performed at Coachella, in Madison Square Garden, on Conan(see photo above), and at pretty much every other major venue and city in the world. Him clearing his calendar for my son meant a lot to me. 

Maecee and I arrived in Atlanta on Wednesday night. We met with my son and my brother. My brother gave us a true look at Atlanta from the perspective of someone from the city. I was greatly appreciative of that. He showed my children the campuses of Morehouse, Clark-Atlanta, and Spelman. We ate at great food at a local spot. We had great conversation. I really love my brother, and I am thankful that the world brought us together. Here is a picture of everyone... 

My son's name is Koi Anthonie Kostic. He is 19 years old. I had him when I was 16 years old. You don't need to say anything... I already know. 

As far as his name? I don't have any profound story like I did with Maecee. I really just liked the look of the name Koi. "Koi" are Japanese fish. They are beautiful. That was... pretty much it. But then something happened. 

As I became a man, I started to grow. I fell in love with water. I am FASCINATED with water. Water is extremely weird. Here are some quick facts...  

-Water is the most common substance on Earth

-Every living species on Earth comes from water and needs water to grow

-The human body is 70-95 percent water... as is the Earth

-Water is the only element that can exist in 3 states: Liquid, Solid, Gas. That means water can literally be ANYWHERE

-It is the only element that expands when it freezes, but contracts when it heats. Every other element on the planet does the opposite. Modern science cannot explain this. 

These are just a FEW of MANY interesting facts about water. 

I always started to fall in love with color. I mean we never really think about color... but damn isn't color beautiful? I mean It is really simple, but it is beautiful.

One day when it came to my son Koi, it all made sense. There was a reason that I named him Koi. If you know my son Koi you know that he is extremely interesting, kind of like the water that the Koi fish live in. Both water and my son are pretty unique... and both very mysterious. 

My son Koi is quiet. He is an introvert. He isn't reallt expressive at all. He once drove with me in the car and smashed a car mirror off of another car and did not move a muscle. He didn't even look in the direction. it was like it never happened. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen. 

But when my son expresses himself, it is a beautiful thing. One day out of the blue, he told me he had a blog. When I looked at this thing, my mind was completely blown. This blog was BEAUTIFUL. The photography was amazing. he did some writing, and it was extremely expressive. I could not believe it. 

Koi fish are also very beautiful, just like my son. Physically, he is extremely handsome. Much beyond and much more important than that, he is extremely beautiful on the inside. He has such a good heart. He is such a good big brother. He looks after everyone. He is such a great son. He is a mothers boy, and he takes care of his mommy. He loves his girlfriend, ex, or whatever she is today. And when he expresses himself... it is a beautiful thing. 

My son Koi is extremely mysterious, just like most introverts and just like the habitat that Koi fish exist in. My son Koi is beautiful on the inside and out, just like the body of a Koi fish. My son has the most laid back personality. He just kind of goes with the flow... kind of like how a fish would do. 

My son is a Koi fish. My son evolved into his name. 

Since I was meeting my son Koi in Atlanta, the first thing I wanted to do was go to the aquarium! We stayed directly across the street from the Georgia Aquarium. We could actually see the Georgia Dome from our room. 

If you want to see some more pictures our time in Atlanta, Please visit the blog. We are with family now, and we do not have time to do too long of a video. Talk to you soon. 

Here are some pictures of all of us at the aquarium... 

Penguins

Look at their faces. Did I make the right decision? 

We then visited Centennial Park. Centennial Park is where a bunch of festivities and events for the 1996 Olympic Games were held The park is literally connected to the aquarium. The park is beautiful. It is so peaceful. There is water. Here are some pictures... 

Help. 

Here is a video I made of them in the park... 

We really enjoyed our time there. We just relaxed. I meditated for like 10 minutes It was like 75 degrees. It was thee perfect day.

I have to interrupt the story. Where I am writing this, people are talking about coincidence. This woman(more on her later) said that GOD did not allow a whale to swallow Jonah just "because." (I do not know this story by the way). She then said that the whale did not just throw Jonah up "just because." She then told me the entire story of Jonah... as I am sitting here talking about water, fish, and an aquarium. Hmm. Here is a picture of her...

Back to the story...

After the park we visited the CNN building... which again was close enough to see from our hotel.

After spending some time in the CNN building, we went to the Ferris Wheel. On the Ferris Wheel, we found a surprise. Watch this video. It has both a surprise and is hilarious...

You remember Maria right? Here is her picture...

Like I stated in my previous post, I wanted Maecee to understand that she had the ability to do whatever she wanted to do in this world. Taking her to Washington D.C. would give her the let her see visual examples of people who believed what I was attempting to instill in her. 

I did not want to stop there though. 

Enter Maria. 

Maria was the high school classmate who went to Egypt with me. She is the young woman who grew up poor on 6th and Turner in Allentown PA. She is the woman who defied the odds, chased her dreams, and reached her goal of becoming a scientist. I feel like the visual examples of success at the museum were cool... but actually experiencing success in person takes it to the next level. Since Maria works in Atlanta, she decided to stop by and say hello to my daughter. Hopefully my daughter can pick her brain and learn something new.  

I did not want to stop there though. 

Enter Jess. 

Jess is on the left

Professional Jess

Jess is my longtime friend from back home too. Jess played college basketball, flag football, and even played pickup basketball with the men. That is just the beginning when it comes to Jess. Jess is a successful businesswoman. She has a beautiful loft in Downtown Philadelphia, and is doing very well in her career. She comes to Atlanta every once in a while to meet with friends, so since she knew I was in town. She was kind enough to talk to my daughter as well. Maecee has an interest in basketball. I wanted Jess to take some time and let her know what it is like playing basketball at a very high level. I also want her to explain how she used her ability to play basketball to earn herself the college scholarship that would eventually lead to her getting the job that she has now. Again, hopefully my daughter can learn something new. Here is a picture of all of us hanging out in the hotel room... 

There is SOOOOOOO much more I could say about Atlanta. I have so many stories and so many more pictures and videos I could post, but for the sake of time I won't. When I do the real legit documentary, I will add all of that content. I just wanted to add a quick video... 

This is is picture Maecee and Koi at some arcade I took them too. Look at them bonding. They have been following each other around the whole time. They were chasing each other around the hotel room throwing toilet paper at each other. They are having interesting conversations. It is beautiful to see. They are separated by 8 years and they have different mothers. While they are cool and they love each other, they are not as close as I would like them to be. I feel like this trip is already bringing them closer together. 

So that is all for now. This is just the beginning. I have so much more planned, so stay tuned. 

Love