Monday, March 16, 2026

Journey 258 ~Hello Braxton, Hello Virgil~

Hey Dad,
It’s Me, Baby B… That is, when you let me back into the room. Or are you still “Turning Japanese,” with my stepmom?

Potential, Future, stepmom M Anime anyway. Or is that Ms. Anime to Virgil and me?

Daddy, you raised gentlemen, uh, gentlepups. I’m getting to be as weird as humans, Dad.

You know things like the Ides of March, St. Patrick’s Day, and the Irish Goodbye.

Honestly, Dad, what a way to start the morning, huh? But Hi, Hello, and good morning have never been our style. It was me as a pup still trying to find my legs. It was stuffing my face with your breakfast. It was all those mornings playing Cerberus—existence father.

We both came into this world quietly. And this is one of the things that made you my human, Dad, that I could greet the world with paws wide open.

“With Arms Wide Open”? That would be weird considering I don’t have arms. Four legs.

“Pinch me, pinch me
‘Cause I’m still asleep
Please, God, tell me
That I’m still asleep.”
Barenaked Ladies ‧ 2000

With legs wide open? I’ll leave that to you and my potential stepmom. If you have your way with her, you could be singing that Creed song in earnest, presently. The present, my father. That’s what you’ve been struggling with these past few days. Well, forty-one years, right? Though I only saw 15 of them in the fur. The first night, I was dropped at your feet. But we really began that morning you saw my face bathed in a plate of syrup without so much as a hello. It all began as the sweetest dream, literally. So we lived.

Whatever or however we could define that. Hello and goodbye…

Formalities. Dad, you would say, you were “Too Good at Goodbyes.” But we both know that it’s the opposite. I’m the prime example of that. Things like The End, Goodbye, and especially Acceptance do not exist in this dojo or house anyway. Damn near impossible.

I know, Daddy, watch my barking language. My brother is the same way. I mean, with the way he’s been following you around lately. Like a tattoo on a biker’s ass. Can you blame us for wanting to be close to the human who loves us? Only Virgil’s worrying you.

And you can’t forget about M Anime. I Wanna Get Next To You. She has a better chance than I. Because I live in you, always. Hello Braxton, Hello Virgil.

“Besides, a man’s got to have some secrets, even from his son.”
Hometown Heat Wave

“Not ignorant of misfortune myself, I learn to help the unfortunate.”
― Dido, The Aeneid

1870 Days Without B III, Day 1311 of Virgil’s Arrival

Always and Forever,
Your Son