Tag: Understanding

Gospel 321 ~B In The Doghouse~

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The Day Job is Hell, the Decisions I will have to make (Mask or No) but the Doghouse… Between Grief and Nothing, I choose Grief, but I am a minority of one in that. The High Priest of the House of Braxton. B In The Doghouse but shut up

Tuesday, May 18, 2021

Gospel 321 ~B In The Doghouse~

Dear Future Wife,
I AM a Billionaire right now, but I don’t think I’ve seen all our money in any one place. Would be dangerous

One more reason I haven’t finished my album for Braxton besides being lazy. Yes, lazy, not sad, or moving into Depression (shudders). I still deny I’m even into Bargaining, even though we’ve been doing plenty as of late. It’s been 107 days since Braxton’s passing. Again another reason I’m hiding out in the Study instead of facing you like a man. Of course, “I prefer handwritten sentiments,” so you have Braxton beat there. But I’m pretty sure he could read some. Okay, so I am going crazy, but you and the children are here too? Not very comforting? What I mean is, it’s because of Braxton I learned the value of a picture and of keeping family close. B III, you, them, you are everywhere.

Baby girl “If I had my way, then surely you would be closer. I need you closer.” I’d like nothing more than to be in bed with you and just talk about B III. To tell you how much I miss my boy and that I need him, love. I need you, I need us, and to believe in love. Even my second best friend is getting sick of me talking about him, and she and I never fight. You and I, on the other hand… At the old Day Job, all I ever did was rage, and I don’t want my home to be that way ever. It’s not going to be how it once was, either Baby Doll. Never again with B gone.

To think I complained about dog hair when Braxton sat on one of my masks. I will miss wearing masks because a year wasn’t enough time to break me of fake smiling. That’s what it would be, pretend, in dreams, just my imagination. Oh, but to stay in Denial always. Only I can’t hide from you being here and my Dæmon being gone forever. But where am I to go? I’m starting to understand the true meaning of loss and being lost because Grief is love with no place to go. Not that I’m blaming you at all, ever because I wish I could climb inside his doghouse or box…

He wanted to stay; let me lay here forgetting the world. B In The Doghouse.

107 Days Without B III

BLM Braxton’s Life Matters,
Will

Gospel 314 ~100 Days Before Braxton…~

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It’s been 100 days, and I live in one being January 31, 2021. The worst day of my life; how dare I. “B III” didn’t live to see the end of it dying 4:00 PM (approximately). But who I was on Oct 23, Jan 31, and maybe on Aug 19. 100 Days Before Braxton.

Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Gospel 314 ~100 Days Before Braxton…~

Dear Future Wife,
I AM a Billionaire right now, but I have been without my firstborn son, my Braxton, for 100 days. That’s 144,000 minutes.

The man I was before January 31st at approximately 4:00 PM (3: 46 PM when the bill was printed). That man has ceased to be. No, that man fucking died along with my child. Reading that bill only destroys me. It’s why I haven’t really looked at you, our family. Having become THIS or remained with 100 days, what would I be if I lost you, our kids, or anything else. I haven’t been, as Will Smith puts it, “being the best lover and friend. Am I being the best daddy I can?” 100 days My Love and I sing “I’m no prophet or messiah.” Yet here I am, no longer writing it but living:

Friday, October 23, 2020 (100 Days Before Braxton’s Rainbow Bridge)

“Does that mean I’m STUPID, that BORED? Would the ENDINGS be worth all of it? Even in my novel, I still mourn the deaths of a family. In the second, I grieve for a dead girl and an upcoming marriage. Despite everything, I always figured I wanted to be in love and be a family man. Only that wasn’t the story’s end in any form.” 114: Willing The Story’s End

From January 31st to now… I know we have been over it. For 72 days, I lived in Denial and still do. After, I gave into Anger. On day 86, I talked about a dream that went into Bargaining. I’ve been looking into that, but I haven’t for a second thought what I do now? How many times do I repeat myself? I’m not angry at Braxton or the vets. I hate myself, but I despise the Day Job so much more. I can and have given up parts of my “lifestyle.” B III isn’t coming back. If I publish tomorrow, he won’t walk in begging to be beside me. But he died on a Sunday, that Monday I worked. Then only to be threatened.

In 100 days, it will be August 19, 2021. I will still love you, hell I’ll love you more for staying with me. If I’m a daddy to our children. You know how I feel about parents who fail their kids. Now I’m one big fucking failure as I walked into B’s room today counting. Nothing will change with Bargaining, and I can only hope I’m mad as Hell. I’m not going through Depression. I have cried every day since Braxton’s passing. There were 2 days but talking to someone brought on my tears, and one night forgetting Braxton’s meds. Will I be a better man, a husband, a father, a friend, I don’t know? But there hasn’t been much love, 100 Days Before Braxton…

BLM Braxton’s Life Matters,
Will

Gospel 307 ~To The B Loved~

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Dearly Beloved… it won’t be many of those when I get married. For the longest time, I thought that Braxton would be there, my Best Man. I guess I’m going to need a new vetting process because I’ve been turning my back on EVERYONE. To The B Loved

Tuesday, May 4, 2021

Gospel 307 ~To The B Loved~

Dear Future Wife,
I AM a Billionaire right now, and someone said love or rather passion is like money. There’s a time to save it up, a time to spend.

So where is my love? An excellent way to describe it is this, and yes, it’s an explanation that I borrowed and/or stole, yep. My love is like having $19.00 in the bank. You know it’s there, it’s yours, but you can’t go to any ATM and punch in $19.00. And walking into a bank… Please stop me, Baby Girl, before I burst into Saving All My Love For You or I Will Always Love You. You never need to doubt my love, but now it’s just so damn hard to reach right this minute. First, it was my sadness about Braxton, and these days it’s this rage against so many idiots. I wish I could turn my back on the lot of them as I turned on our family?

Never ever, Baby Doll, it’s just, well, take today for an example. You know I’m a Star Wars fan, but I’m not one of these fans starting a fight about it. I can’t watch every movie today because of Stupid people. Only Star Wars is my heart (what’s left of it). God, I miss B. Today of all days, I don’t mean to hurt my friend Indiana Gone. Happy Birthday!!! The thing is this, much as I like her, if you pitted her against my little boy, she wouldn’t stand a chance. Braxton is my firstborn. Braxton’s my longest relationship ever, father to son. There is nothing that can ever make me turn my back on him. Nothing will make me betray us, my love.

It’s just, and I’ll never understand why. But in the words of Stephen King: “God is cruel. Sometimes he makes you live.” The hatred of people, my hate of those people, took my Braxton from me. My love, you show me that all people need not be hated and feared. Braxton and I met in my twenties. And he showed me that no matter what assholes like the ASM, the gemstone bitch, or the spectator do. There is love within me— that love I give to you that made our children. I have to find it without Braxton. Good Luck.

Well, I have you, always and forever, right? I ask you not to question me, and yet I doubt you. Trying To The B Loved

BLM Braxton’s Life Matters,
Will

Gospel 300 ~B Cause Growing Up~

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B III IS always a puppy to me, but he grew up. He can climb the stairs and hop on the bed. B was the angel or devil on my shoulder. Sometimes he would step on my face, and now I see how high he’s gotten. Should I stop crying? B Cause Growing Up.

Tuesday, April 27, 2021

Gospel 300 ~B Cause Growing Up~

Dear Future Wife,
I AM a Billionaire right now, but why did I want to be? Power, no more, no less. God is Power, right?

Like the song goes, “I put my thing down, flip it and reverse it” thanks a bunch, Missy Elliott. Taking in all the connotations of that song, consider this. I put Braxton down (no, I killed him). As for flip it… if I want to see him, I look to Heaven, or there’s his “coffin.” I should call it an urn. It’s a box that I have to unscrew to see his ashes. Finally, reverse it; what’s God spelled backward… Dog. My Dog, my friend. My son is Power. Braxton is my heart; why not go ahead and say my everything. Um, I didn’t know I could love so much. Then you came along, My Love. That’s not an insult; it’s a fact, my reality.

They say God is love, but again Dog is love. THEY say that most people don’t know what they want. I know long ago when I spelled my first word. As I put pen to paper, I wanted to be a writer. Oh, I wanted to be a sword fighter too, so we both see which one I stuck with, ha. I wanted to be a fighter pilot, a comedian, a wartime journalist. Nowadays, “I’m a motherfuckin’ Starboy” Pardon my French, but my life is pretty hilarious. And how about how I write. I don’t need a war; all I have to do is sit down and bleed. A tad offensive? Such things weren’t when I was growing up. Here I am, crying about Braxton.

I’m just a little boy, a grown-ass man crying about a puppy. I don’t know when I decided I wanted to be a Dad. I’ve had dogs before, at my grandma’s house. B wasn’t even the first Dog I held as he died. I was covered in a puppy’s blood once; my fucking granddad. I’ve told the story enough; the day my Olds moved, and I called to Braxton. He came running without a second thought. I’m sure you’re having second, third, even sixteenth thoughts about the man you married. You, baby girl, have blessed me with children. However, I’m still growing, learning, and I have so much love to give. So I want more, undeservedly after my Braxton, no way. B Cause Growing Up

BLM Braxton’s Life Matters,
Will

Gospel 293 ~Braxton Paws Is Love~

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The day I lost my son, there went my remaining love. At first, love was like a river that continued to flow, my tears, the hoodie I wear, the music. Then because of some asshole, my “peace” was shattered and replaced by Anger. “Braxton Paws Is Love.”

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Gospel 293 ~Braxton Paws Is Love~

Dear Future Wife,
I AM a Billionaire right now, so I’m gonna love you now. Hell, when Braxton and I had nothing, I loved him.

I love Braxton still as I love you, our children, the life we have created together. For the past Seventy-Nine Days, I have found that DENIAL has blocked and muted everything. THEY say that love is not only what you say but what you do. A Man Provides baby girl.
Feeling it and doing it, though? It’s like Braxton paused love. I’m starting to understand how THEY say you can’t love another until you love yourself. Now I never liked that. In truth, it’s a lie because I hated myself, but when B III came into my life… Wow, it’s like the same thing. He paused my hatred, the wind, the wrath. To think I complained that he distracted me but what about right now.

You are doing your best, My Love. I am not asking you for anything. Okay, you say Let Me Love You. I’m not trying to be one of those broken men who need saving ever. As you say, When You Say Nothing At All… it’s the only way I can love you right now. At the very least, I will do no harm, and it saddens me further I have to say such a thing. To have lost such love as that of my son. Then to have the evils of men reawaken my ANGER. God, it has been so easy to cocoon myself in my DENIAL. Love, always and forever. Braxton’s remains in a box, and that’s how I feel. I’m Sitting In Limbo, I hope. It was better.

Indeed, I was but until the fucking tattooed arms of men. I dare not turn my ANGER towards the innocent. It was such rage that led to such apathy. Soon I may have time to love again. Who seeks time to hate? It’s why I lie with you now as every time I get up… That’s what feeds my fury. The fact that another black man found it fitting to steal my peace as my Old Man did. I go to say bye to my boy, and my heart beats faster. My blood boils. With these hands, oh My Love I’d love, write, pet my fallen son again yes, yes. Mourn alongside me, but I won’t make you Lady Macbeth. Love… Braxton Paws Is Love.

BLM Braxton’s Life Matters,
Will

Gospel 286 ~Can’t Buy B Love~

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B was here when I was gaming. I haven’t picked up a controller in months. He was here when I was doing my thing to make money. Such a bad attitude for a writer, but I love it and him, and if I were getting paid, might he be alive? “Can’t Buy B Love.”

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

Gospel 286 ~Can’t Buy B Love~

Dear Future Wife,
I AM a Billionaire right now, but I’m not saying you’re a gold digger. If you’re asking anything… where is the love?

Now make no mistake, I love you more each and every single day. I love our children, which is why you know that Braxton’s passing is hard. Where is the love? It’s sitting in a box on the nightstand; it’s hanging around my neck. Baby Girl, it’s in Braxton’s bedroom. It is funny, isn’t it seeing as how he never used it unless we um… yep he was just one of the kids, my firstborn. A softer bed wouldn’t have helped the situation. In the end, I would have spent my last dime on fries, but he didn’t want food. I only want to be with you. That’s my Braxton. Also, you too. If it’s not song references, should I compare thee to my dog all day? Maybe not, hmm?

I’m comparing you to the only love I have ever known for almost sixteen years. He was worth everything I own; well, we own now. I waste cash on myself, no doubt. Only it was B III that made me want to work so hard, to give him so much, and I didn’t try enough. It’s as if I can’t find the balance, My Love. Love wasn’t enough to save him. While I doubt all my fortune would have done anything, it would have been worth a try or something. With you, I give all this wealth but what you’re not feeling is any love from it. I still try. Baby Doll, that’s what I promise, that I will always try, and it is there.

I told you once before how I’m into Aloe Blacc’s “Wake Me Up.” There are these two lines in particular: “Life’s a game made for everyone. And love is the prize.” Love isn’t such a thing. No, love is the instruction manual, and I just lost mine. So, continue, insert quarters? It’s better than me walking away, deciding I don’t want to play anymore, then what? I wouldn’t rob you of Player 2, but I lost Braxton, and I need time to learn this game again. Have you had enough of my game analogy yet? I haven’t been spending on gaming. Hell, the quiet is killing me, but we have to pay for that too in Life. Will you lay here? Can’t Buy B Love.

BLM Braxton’s Life Matters,
Will

Gospel 279 ~A Link To Braxton~

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Braxton for nearly sixteen years was my family, no is family, forever and always. With all the tornados still I grab “him” while I hide. Well not really I put him under the stairs and go sit on the couch. A Link To Braxton, it’s dangerous to go alone

Tuesday, April 6, 2021

Gospel 279 ~A Link To Braxton~

Dear Future Wife,
I AM a Billionaire right now, so it’s dangerous to go alone. Take this. The “this” was my Braxton, and without him…

Link had his sword, as did King Arthur with Excalibur and Captain America with his shield and Mjolnir for a bit. I could go with King Ezekiel and Shiva, Sango and Kirara. Um, All Dogs Go To Heaven, but Hell has Cerberus too. Yes, Love you married a nerd, ha. You’re my Player 2 but Braxton… If I were to go into everything my little boy meant to me, I would never stop. Have I come close yet, as it’s been two months? How long did I pursue you even though it was “Love At First Sight?” It was the same with B III Love. You must be getting sick of me with these comparisons, but he was the greatest life I have ever known.

So “Excuse me, Princess,” a Legend of Zelda reference. I’m more like “You are My Queen,” but even Daenerys didn’t have to watch ALL her Dragons die. We have our legacy, My Love, but still, I mourn my Dragon, my Dæmon, my dog, dearest Braxton. These days I’m lost, Baby Girl. I’m in the dungeon (not the playroom). I’m not supposed to be here because if the hero was all alone without… anything, he would die. I am dying, and even now, I know B III is telling me to carry on. Forgive me, B, but I don’t know how? Or I do as “A Man Provides,” but why don’t I want to. Do princesses need saving, the prince a mentor, and you, my Queen?

I hear you singing to me, “I Want To Hold Your Hand.” Only I’m a boy that misses petting his dog. The kids want to run around at the park, and all I want is Braxton barking away in the yard. Everything I have in the kitchen with my “Left Hand Free” and right too. Baby Doll, I can no longer carry my boy, and that’s when I had practically nothing but him. A seven-pound ball of fluffy goodness who my father, my sister, and so many others think of as some NPC in life. Braxton was the purpose, the Triforce, all the Pokémon, the endgame. And in trying to find him I fear I’m losing us My Love. I need A Link To Braxton.

BLM Braxton’s Life Matters,
Will

Gospel 272 ~Braxton In The Mercedes~

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Maybe I’m dehydrated. Braxton got like that once, a little dog like that walking in the southern heat? My diet could use a change; I’m living off Walmart wings and Subway. Grateful I have a car, but nobody is riding shotgun. “Braxton In The Mercedes”

Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Gospel 272 ~Braxton In The Mercedes~

Dear Future Wife,
I AM a Billionaire right now, but as the song goes, Money “Can’t Buy Me Love.” Of course, the jury’s still out.

The businesses I’m in… Hell, I know more than most. Did I ever tell you that when I was young, I wanted to be a veterinarian? How about the fact that Braxton was a gift and not to me but my sister? He wasn’t even the first dog I ever watched die; a puppy’s blood. People can be so STUPID, My Love. Myself included, or so I’ve been thinking since… well, you know when. I took Braxton’s love for granted, and now yours, the children’s, I keep none for myself. It all comes back to me, or as I keep saying, “A Man Provides.” There’s plenty of men that do that, and how little do they know about love. My father, I hate the bastard.

Still, he’s the one that bought Braxton. As Shakespeare wrote, “My only love sprung from my only hate!” My father, um accused me of murder. As I stood in the parking lot that day delivering the news that my little B III had passed. But it wasn’t the accusation, though. What do I mean by accusation? It is what it is. B is gone because of me. You say that’s me hating myself, and I think, that’s the whole point, well two? Understand the first is easiest to bear as I watch you and the children, our family, what remains of us, All Of Me. Always and forever, “even if I come back, even if I die,” you’ll want for nothing. But there’s my love.

You want that back, Baby Girl. I love you and our family, but do you know how many times my father said that to me. How many times did I say it to Braxton daily?

This brings me to my dream last night. I dreamt I was Edmond Dantes, and you were my Mercedes. You asked me did I suffer, and no, I was not in the Chateau d’If. It was with Braxton’s death. I begged you, pleaded with you not to rob me of my hate as Edmond had. I watched you, my father, take my weapons. It wasn’t any love but an arsenal leaving me with nothing; my second point. My father taught me I deserved neither love nor hate because I’m nothing.

Before you, I had always been a fool. I became a best friend, a father. Now I may lose it all. I have lost it all, but no, you’re still here, but I see the man in the mirror these days. I want to take him away from you. Braxton wouldn’t have that, but no love, no hate. What’s left? In my dream, it was my old car. Braxton didn’t die in a car, but I was buried alive in salt inside after losing everything.

It was only a dream because you’re here, but I’m not… Braxton In The Mercedes

BLM Braxton’s Life Matters,
Will

Gospel 265 ~Hair of the Braxton~

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I was never much of a drinker. No, I wasn’t one of the “Cool Kids.” It wasn’t that I was trying to be good. But for whoever I share my life with, I want to be. For fifteen years, eleven months, that was Braxton. Without that love? Hair of the Braxton

Tuesday, March 23, 2021

Gospel 265 ~Hair of the Braxton~

Dear Future Wife,
I AM a Billionaire right now, but not even that is enough to bring Braxton back to me. Well, there’s Braxton fur…

You know I don’t drink My Love and alcohol won’t help anything. I did say I don’t indulge, but you can ask my second BFF and one glass of wine. Yet, at this rate, saying I was drinking in excess might be better than drowning myself in tears “One More Night.” Yeah, what’s one more sad song? It wouldn’t matter if I was working the ole Day Job or my dream job. “Every Day Is Exactly The Same.” What an insult that is to my boy? My apathy is what led to his death because he was always there. I was whatever, but B? Baby girl, I focused on things that didn’t matter. So Braxton, who I love, paid for my ennui with his life.

Now I’m doing it again. Yes, I see that now, and the thing is, I don’t give a damn. Braxton’s Life Matters, and if I had treated him as such before, he might still be here. Only no, he has the food in his bowl, he has his water, so he cries for one night; by morning, B’s just fine. I’ve been losing myself to the madness of this world. I lost my boy, my firstborn. Now it’s the background noise. Do you know what caught my ear in that ruckus? Is Hank a Good Father? Hank Hill from King of the Hill, so I demanded an answer from myself. “What Makes A Good Man?” How about your husband and the daddy of our kids?

The best lover and friend, the best daddy I can, as Will Smith put it. Without a doubt, I don’t want to be my father. How dare I right with everything? I don’t want our kids to hate me. If a child wakes up believing the whole world is against him and his father too? That’s something good I’ll remember about Braxton’s eyes. In his final hours, suffering, and dying he saw me, and I could hear him saying. “Daddy, can we go home. Daddy, I want to stay with you.” I look at you and my family now, and you don’t feel that way?

Drunk on you, on love, for now, I’m sober. I need love; I know that. Some Hair of the Braxton

BLM Braxton’s Life Matters,
Will


Gospel 258 ~On Braxton’s Big Day~

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I’m not the man I was. The man I was before Braxton… can’t say I miss him. To be full of love and then, I don’t know it doesn’t vanish. He’s like the source and like a lake or his water bowl I sit; life but going nowhere. “On Braxton’s Big Day.”

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Gospel 258 ~On Braxton’s Big Day~

Dear Future Wife,
I AM a Billionaire right now, but Braxton… he was the best, destined to be my best man, big brother, but bye?

Best man is by far my selection for him. Only four women ever won his heart. So it’s no coincidence that I love (or am especially fond of them as well). Of course, one of them was you. Hell, if he had lived to see the women are girls would grow up to be someday. Braxton loved his grandma, although she forgot him here or there. Like father like son. His aunt and/or his first mom… I know that sounds weird to say; insert a southern joke here. I’ve told you about Indiana Gone and how he jumped all over her resulting in “The Talk.” He really liked her, but when it came to you, it was like “this one.” B didn’t steer me wrong.

Big brother is watching you. I remember when he knew he would have siblings. I believe he loved watching the beans grow more than French fries, cheese, and hot dogs combined. He was easy to forgive now that he wasn’t growling about lunch/dinner sharing habits. It was always a promise between him and me. A daddy, a mommy, a brother, a sister, another sister. You and I, My Love, kept at it. Braxton never complained. If I had my old Day Job, he might have lost his mind, but B was the one who could come to my new job. It was one thing to be kept out when you and I would… Now he’s trapped with the kids. Why he still has bed privileges.

“Bye Felicia,” I’m sure he wanted to say to you when he realized he lost a whole side of the bed. How about when I walk in with food, and he sees all the hands reaching for stuff. It’s called family. Braxton, you wanted one; I wanted the same. Take a look at me now.
“Bye, daddy, I have to go, look out for them, love them as I love you,” I ask you. My Love, have I done that. B isn’t here to play outside with the kids now, but what about me? B III had his favorite toy because I couldn’t bring myself to let the vet do “that” to him, um no. Best Man, Big Brother, Best friend but what about me?

Be the person your dog thinks you are? I wasn’t much before him, to be honest. Now it’s like I don’t feel like being anything. While I’m quoting the wise though, for you dear wifey, “a man provides” real enough. I have, I will, but like my father, that doesn’t only mean paying the bills. I won’t lie, you know how I have feared you would break my heart but Braxton… My firstborn, first love that loved me back, hell my first knight. When will I be “myself?” I’m sorry, I don’t know, baby girl. Still On Braxton’s Big Day

BLM Braxton’s Life Matters,
Will