Broken Things

Traci Braxton - Broken Things

Verse 1:

It's a cold wind blowing in the air tonight

My heart's frozen in my chest

There's a cold war going on between us now

And we're looking at stalemate at best

Cause neither one of us is strong enough to apologize

Cause neither one of us is wrong

Cause neither one of us has the guts to leave tonight

Cause we don't want be alone

Refrain:

You and me and hearts and strings

Who can fix these broken things

Who can put us back together not that we're undone

Now that we can't remember how

Tell me

Who can fix these broken things

I was so sad to read about Traci Braxton's passing.   As you know I'm a long-time Toni Braxton fan.  I knew of Toni's sisters primarily through the Braxton sisters only album So Many Ways.   Traci wasn't part of that album due to being pregnant at the time.   The whole sad tale is played out in their WeTV series Braxton Family Values.   Traci quickly became a favorite of mine cause she seemed the most real sister who told it like it is.   I was happy when she finally released her own solo album and then a second one four years later.   It was nice seeing her finally get her break.   I did see a photo float around where she did look sick but at the time the sickness was denied and I didn't think further of it.  Then came the announcement.   It was so sad but just like when my Mom passed, I'm glad that Traci is no longer suffering.

I'm currently in the Motor city, AKA Detroit, staying with my younger sister Trina (not Braxton...*LOL*) and her husband Donovan.   Trina texted Tasha and I on Tuesday morning telling us that our Dad was acting erratic and suggested that if we were available then to make some time to visit him.   For the last few weeks she's had to help my Dad change his Depends and he's been confused a lot.     She noted that his urine input was slowing down as well.   She was thinking my Dad may be near death and wanted us to see him.

I told Trina that I would head over there Friday.   It just so happens that I also have to travel to Indianapolis for work the following Wednesday.   So my plan is to work from their place Monday through part of Wednesday and then drive the 4 hours and change to Carmel just outside of Indianapolis to stay at a hotel overnight and then drive to work the next day.   I was wondering if I should head there earlier but I had three different meetings happening on Thursday that I felt more comfortable doing at my home.   I checked in with Trina on both Wednesday and Thursday and she said that my Dad was doing better.   I actually spoke to Trina and then my Dad Wednesday as well and he seemed fine.  So I felt better about holding off till Friday.   Thankfully my Dad is doing okay now as well.   Hopefully we still have time with him.

Tasha was radio silent when Trina sent the text.  When I called Trina Wednesday, she asked me if I talked to Tasha and was disappointed that she didn't message back.   I had hoped that perhaps Tasha would've called Trina directly since she didn't reply back via text.   But she didn't.   Unfortunately Tasha still has a lot of unresolved issues with Dad.   Her way of dealing with it has been to avoid him but in doing so it's left Trina and her husband holding the bag when it comes to caring for Dad.   I'm four hours away from Detroit as well so I'm not available a lot either.   I am grateful that Trina and Donovan has been there for him but I know it's definitely a strain (especially on Trina).   

Tasha finally broke her radio silence Thursday when I texted the group chat asking how Dad was.   But it was just one line with 4 smiley emoticons.    And of course Tasha has continued to be a no-show since I've been in town.

It's a sad situation all around.  When I last visited Tasha sometime last year, her husband Abe was trying to spill the tea to me (in front of Tasha) that he wanted the two of them to talk to one another.   I felt secondhand embarrassment for Tasha in the moment but I agreed with Abe.    But she stated that she was not ready.   The thing is that our Dad is 92 years old and he only has so much time left.   Unfortunately my Dad denies any wrongdoing when talking to him about things in the past.   He's not going to change but I would hate for her to have unresolved feelings about him after he's gone and she can't talk to him anymore.   Abe recently lost his Dad a few months ago and I imagine Tasha not talking to our Dad may weigh even heavier with him (as I'm sure even with the issues he had with his Dad that he wishes he had more time with him).

I do hope Tasha will come by the house but I'm not holding out hope.   

As I said, my plan is to work from Trina's house the next three work days.   Work itself is going okay.  I've worked on three customer cases and have thankfully closed two of them.   My manager does want me to pick up more cases which I'm sure will help me in gaining experience.   The good thing in my job as well is that they offer a lot of training to support us.   It's a good company and I'm hoping I can stay there until retirement which is at minimum 15 more years from now.   It doesn't seem like it now but time really does fly.   Hell I started blogging in 2005 and it's over 17 years now.   

I do see myself doing other roles within the company and not necessarily staying in support.   The company has headquarters in other parts of the world and Dom has actually made a good case for perhaps working out of their London office.   If I do that though it won't be for a good while.    I would like to perhaps get back into the Business Analyst realm that I worked in previously.   I also thought about doing something related to my recent Tableau certification.   The sky is definitely the limit.

I have another work related event scheduled at the Indianapolis office on April 14th.  That's why I wanted to stay in Detroit till Wednesday as well to save a little car wear & tear.   I had spoke to Ross and he mentioned being out of commission due to needing crowns on three of his front teeth.   So I won't be meeting him.    But I may actually meet a former classmate from my cybersecurity bootcamp for a quick drink after work if he's interested.    We reconnected because I saw he was in the market for work and the Salesforce Pathfinder program for 2022 was opening their doors and I thought he would be a good fit.   It wound up being the best thing I've done as I feel like I would still be working at Amazon otherwise.    It would be great if he wound up getting a job as a Salesforce Consultant before the end of 2022.