Monday, November 17, 2025

Journey 139 ~Braxton, A NOISY Virgil~

Hey Dad,
It’s Me, Baby B… Not just noise, not the sniff, sniff of my nose, or in other words, breathing. Not nothing or never.

But your son. Though right now, to you at least, I sound like the Can You Hear Me Now” guy from Verizon. That was one of the great things about us, Dad. You talk a lot about how Virgil has my eyes but our ears. Scary, sleepy, satisfied, whatever we heard, everything and then some. And then there was the silence. We were safe, Daddy.

Honestly, how do you feel after today? We’re talking over “The Weeknd” ha-ha because today, well… What could I tell you that you would believe? Steve, Bob Marely, and I.

I want to say that “every little thing is gonna be alright.” “Everything is gonna be okay,” like Blue’s Clues.

I remember Steve from Blue’s Clues. Pokémon. I would sit in your lap as you played video games. The wonders of the glow box. You even did the Dad thing and said it would rot my brain when you left it on when you went somewhere. The bad place? Negativity.

“I fill my lungs with fear and I Exhale!”
It’s My Turn to Fly, The Urge ‧ 2000 (Titan A.E.)

I won’t add to that noise, Daddy. If anything, one of the best sounds in the world spent in front of the glow box was you, me, and my Favorite Girl watching movies together. Dad?

Next to you, hearing how I would call to you without a sound. It was your breathing, the beat of your heart. The being you, not just with me but with her. Second Favorite person…

Yeah, that wasn’t family. But I hope you hear when I say this. My father…

You are my person, my human, my Dad, definitely my Favorite Boy. And today Dad…

You’re still breathing, you’re alive. That’s the noise I long to hear on days like this one, Dad. Is it better when Sia sings it? “Alive?” It’s not like you got to listen to it at the bad place, right? As you would say, that’s not negativity; it’s simply the truth. And you are here, Dad. But if I were there in that bad place with you, I’m sure that my barking would have stopped anyone from asking you anything to hurt you. And Virgil wants to cover one of your ears as you have an AirPod in the other. There’s noise and what’s worth listening to. And what is that? Braxton, A NOISY Virgil

“You’re a special person to the universe in ways I don’t think you know.”
― Bikini Magic by Michael Dalton

“A hideous noise of shouting rose to the heavens as young men fought and fell under the iron hand of Mars.”
From ― The Aeneid

1751 Days Without B III, Day 1192 of Virgil’s Arrival

Always and Forever,
Your Son

Monday, November 10, 2025

Journey 132 ~Crawl of Braxton, Virgil~

Hey Dad,
It’s Me, Baby B… Did you have a good day? I should ask, did you have a good night? You look like… Dad.

On top of being colorblind, you always looked like you, Daddy. A contradiction of what I said last week. Perhaps. You were louder sometimes. Some humans say, Love is Louder.

Another thing you humans say is that something is larger than life. You were Dad—a god held in the arms of a titan. We never said that, but the angel on your shoulder, Dad.

That’s me. And ladies’ men… Greta, my favorite girl, that maid Special K. M Anime…

Always and forever, forever and always. That’s what you taught me, my father. You live!

Ain’t that the thing, you live by that. “If you call, I will answer.” Isn’t that a Barenaked Ladies song? Do I know you, Dad, or what? That band name…

“I fill my lungs with fear and I Exhale!”
It’s My Turn to Fly, The Urge ‧ 2000 (Titan A.E.)

But “Love Is A Long Road”, it’s wobbly first steps, a walk through the neighborhood, and “The Way” I made it onto your bed the first time to have a taste of waffles. French Toast?

I don’t recall what it was, but did you ever think it wasn’t the food that called to me, Dad?

I’m not an elephant, nor am I a ladybug, or an Asian Lady Beetle. I’m not an ant, my father. One more reason we’re having this conversation. We’re back on ants again with the weather. They want to get warm, find something wet, or get waffles. Or it’s you, Dad.

The wrong things want you, dark thoughts about a woman, that little dog, and my brother Virgil, and the dead.

Are we those wrong things? Really? It would explain why you don’t “Put One Foot in Front of the Other. Dad, “One Foot In Front Of The Other.” You’re not trying to drown me out.

I learned how to walk, jump, and fly because of you. That’s not negativity, but the truth, and I’m so thankful and will forever be. All I ask is that you do what you taught.

Honestly, I do mean being a jetsetter because again last night I felt it. Father. FEAR is not meant to be always and forever. I once called to you, I climbed to you, and crawled.

Daddy, Till I Collapse. Virgil is learning to do the same. Some women will. Your turn. Crawl of Braxton, Virgil.

“If you can’t fly, then run, if you can’t run, then walk, if you can’t walk, then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“Through chances various, through all vicissitudes, we make our way…”
The Aeneid

1744 Days Without B III, Day 1185 of Virgil’s Arrival

Always and Forever,
Your Son

Monday, November 3, 2025

Journey 125 ~To B Real Virgil~

Hey Dad,
It’s Me, Baby B… And you? You’re not you when you’re hungry. Snickers? I remember one Halloween… Snickers, M&M’s, Twix… Everything in between.

Don’t worry, you were doing right by me. “Protecting” me… I wish you had let me protect food like that more often. Then, of course, came Thanksgiving. Grandma shared more.

Speaking of sharing, you would do a lot of that as well in November. Good times. Lying under the table as you worked on something called NaNoWriMo. Books. My Books.

Daddy, I’m really there, aren’t I? “I’m here, I’m there, I’m everywhere, but you can’t catch me now.” Olivia Rodrigo’s “Can’t Catch Me Now?” Tomorrow, today’s playlist with whatever happens at the bad place. I don’t know whether I envy Virgil or pity him, Dad.

On one paw, he’s waiting for you, while I’m with you always. But here’s there, fur and all, your son.

“I fill my lungs with fear and I Exhale!”
It’s My Turn to Fly, The Urge ‧ 2000 (Titan A.E.)

And I am your son, always and forever. That’s what you’ve been thinking about, Daddy.

What makes me and Virgil real. We’re “The Boys.” You’ve never watched the show, but Virgil and I are that. Realer and truer, “so warm and true” that we beat out M Anime for sure. As you say, my father, that’s not negativity but simply stating a fact. That happened.

But no matter what happened between then and now, when it comes to me and my brother, “It’s Only Love.” A Heather Nova song? Again, you find me in everything.

Daddy, didn’t you make two whole playlists for me? I remember when I wasn’t barking, sometimes you would sing to me. I am my father’s son. I learned well enough.

Even with no opposable thumbs, which brings us here. My barks and your fingers. Hell, call me your better nature, your mother effin’ Conscience. I know, Dad, I know, watch my words—the Consequences of being your son, the Consequences of being a good man.

Which would be worse, to live as a monster or to die as a good man?
Dennis Lehane, Shutter Island

Because you’re not MAGA! You won’t be a Cracker Hat. You have knowledge and truth.

We don’t erase, evict, or eviscerate a “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” that’s our history.

I’m not the son of a Preacher Man. And people who knew me would sing “He doesn’t look a thing like Jesus.” “I never yielded! And as you can see, I am not dead!” Well…

Anyway, your plans on bringing me back… Daddy, just be real. To B Real Virgil.

“You have been touched by great sorrow. You understand its many aspects. It can bring a form of comfort or torture. It can only exist where there is some amount of hope, and sorrow is the evidence that something precious was lost from the world.”
Backyard Dungeon 22, Logan Jacob

“Wherever Fate may lead us, whether on or backward, let us follow.”
― The Aeneid

1737 Days Without B III, Day 1178 of Virgil’s Arrival

Always and Forever,
Your Son