I joined your Substack after reading this entry (which I found linked on the FdB Substack).
I am saddened for you losing Jamie. It got pretty dusty in my kitchen as I read to the end. You have a hole in your heart, but don't condemn yourself to be like a Hunter Thompson or Hemmingway. It just takes time and eventually allowing yourself to love again, which is what Jamie would want. My wife and I have two sons around your age (29 & 31). Not sure why I mention that, other than from your writing I assumed you to be much older.
I'm one of those people that, each and every time I am in a conversation (real life or on-line) and someone proclaims something bad (e.g., inflation) is "due to the pandemic" or "Putin's war," I retort: No, it is due to the government's response to the pandemic and/or Putin's war. The crux of the biscuit is that in the world of progressives, and all institutions they control, there was/is literally no other possible response to COVID/Putin.
To me, the worst part was all the hate and outright smearing of anyone who did not get vaccinated. Pfizer's CEO announcing that anyone refusing to take their shots was murdering other people. Well, we all know the rest of the story, but so, so much damage done to our society at a time when we really don't need it. Families ripped apart. Friendships lost. Careers upended. Pfizer managed to convince tens of millions Americans that their shots only work if everyone else also gets shots. And the NYT et al run with it. WTF? The hate was unbelievable. Small example, in the comments to a WSJ article about Aaron Rodgers not being vaccinated, some woman (based on her name) says she hoped he'd die a painful death from COVID. Maybe she was just a Bears fan. And, don't get me started on masking school kids.
I look forward to catching up on your older posts. Hang in there.
Third time trying to post a response before being kicked off the internet. This was all clear over the first three months of 2000. Nancy Pelosi made sure things were as miserable as possible for the American people in order to elect more Democrats. Biden ran on a platform of I am not Trump, and immediately on taking office proved it by undoing everything Trump.
I wrote that schools were the safest place for kids, and there were zero reported cases of transmission from a child to a teacher. All lies. I wrote that masks on those under five indoors was child abuse, and masks on anyone outdoors were stupid, causing far more harm than good. I predicted steep rises in child abuse, substance abuse and suicide. All lies.
Ok, I just paid $50 to subscribe so I could comment and tell you that I am so sorry for your loss. We lost my husband's sister to an OD in Nov 2020. She had struggled with addiction for years but she had found a counselor and was doing well. But in the covid madness everything in CA shut down and she lost the personal connection. She was forced into Zoom counseling which didn't work, obviously. I absolutely count her as a loss to over-zealous covid restrictions.
I'm so deeply sorry for your terrible pain and loss. Thank you so much for having the courage to tell us about it. Your beautiful writing and clear voice are very important. Please take heart.
Pain sinks into the meridians, yes. Into our cells. Into our souls. Whatever you want to call it. I agree and know, and have been there. We are all destined to feel it and carry it, unfortunately. Somewhere along the line.
Yet so does love. The two are, infinitely and inevitably, interlinked. Please allow this message of love from a complete stranger to sink in there to add a small counterweight to your pain.
I have watched, too, as my beloved daughter has sunk into isolation and despair and dysfunction during these last three awful years of societal paralysis and pathology. Hers is the despair of a young life, locked up, after she had just started out from school and was meant to embark on the next stage of her journey. The helplessness I feel is overwhelming. She had no-one but us. And that is not enough. A mother or father is no replacement for a circle of friends. A boyfriend. A life of sun and outings and talk and laughter and doing things. Living.
All a mother can do is hold our children close, if we can, and provide as many counter-narratives to all of the nihilistic messaging and fear-mongering that the safetyists and crisis-actors and hystericists can throw at us. I don't care if they call me a loon or an extremist or a conspiracy theorist - let them do their worst. Our duty is to ensure that our children do not lose hope, above all else.
I hold you in my heart. And your beautiful Jamie. I know that anyone who reads your story, will do so. Even if they don't. They would. That is what your story was meant to do.
I'm so sorry for your loss. How terribly tragic. It has obviously affected you deeply.
This was very well written. Despite all your factual research, I fear that people just want to forget what happened. They don't want to deal with it. The biggest excuse I hear is "but they didn't really know what they were up against." They just want to move on.
Sadly I believe accountability will ultimately be minimal. We're up against something my logical mind has yet to comprehend. Keep writing. We can only hope it makes a difference.
Brad, I don't know that I had read this before. Your writing always touches me in some way. That history, however, fell short of preparing me for those 20 minutes. Your fictional pieces really stuck with me. Now I know why
We all tire of polical platitudes, filled with airy rhetoric about all the wonderful outcomes from these policies we know wreak havoc instead of fortify. We get glimpses into the consequences, as i do working with struggling, usually homeless, families in our community. (Side note- our organization held a meeting not two weeks into school shutdowns. We all knew the hardest hit would be the disadvantaged communities, so we put some duct tape and baling wire plans together to supplement remote "learning. In the fall, we learned almost 40% of the school population had never bothered to log on- not once- after schools closed in the spring. Any guess as to what type of kids fell through the cracks?)
The outcomes rarely reach the guy making speeches. The rigged game ensures they won't. The Great Society ruined the family structure of black communities, but hey, they got a near universal voting block because of it (as LBJ predicted, in very colorful terms that have been conveniently memory-holed to this day)
But politics affect actual people. Reactions to meta events find fertile ground in a scared and vulnerable population. Of course, no one takes accountability. Old news, they say. Our betters won't even claim unintended consequences. No, they claim they held the opposite position. The gaslighting may do more damage to the nation's psychy than the event itself. It frustrates and demoralizes beyond words
This piece punched me in the stomach. I too lost a friend- not as close as Jamie- but a mentoree who meant so very much to me. She OD'd last summer. We worked years together getting her to a better place. She was isolated and alone. Her escapism prevailed, as did her love. This quirky, talented, rough background kid changed my life for the better. I wish I could tell her that, just one more time
Thank you, Brad. My very best wishes. I will return to this article time and again. It will always humanize me
In March 2020, I told anyone who would listen that this was a mental health nightmare. The increasing suicide numbers in April, May and June confirmed this nightmare for me. I prayed for you and Jamie without knowing you. I will pray for you now by name every morning. What was done is a soul crushing crime against humanity.
I am sorry about Jamie. She looks like such a sweet person. She did NOT deserve what happened to her!!! Neither do you. I wish there was a way to ease even a tiny bit of what you're going through. I think all of your subscribers feel the same way. Those are nice photos of you and Jamie. Persephone and Mr Grey send purrs. I don't purr so please accept a small virtual hug. And a yap-yap-yap from Gibbs.
Hi Brad,
I joined your Substack after reading this entry (which I found linked on the FdB Substack).
I am saddened for you losing Jamie. It got pretty dusty in my kitchen as I read to the end. You have a hole in your heart, but don't condemn yourself to be like a Hunter Thompson or Hemmingway. It just takes time and eventually allowing yourself to love again, which is what Jamie would want. My wife and I have two sons around your age (29 & 31). Not sure why I mention that, other than from your writing I assumed you to be much older.
I'm one of those people that, each and every time I am in a conversation (real life or on-line) and someone proclaims something bad (e.g., inflation) is "due to the pandemic" or "Putin's war," I retort: No, it is due to the government's response to the pandemic and/or Putin's war. The crux of the biscuit is that in the world of progressives, and all institutions they control, there was/is literally no other possible response to COVID/Putin.
To me, the worst part was all the hate and outright smearing of anyone who did not get vaccinated. Pfizer's CEO announcing that anyone refusing to take their shots was murdering other people. Well, we all know the rest of the story, but so, so much damage done to our society at a time when we really don't need it. Families ripped apart. Friendships lost. Careers upended. Pfizer managed to convince tens of millions Americans that their shots only work if everyone else also gets shots. And the NYT et al run with it. WTF? The hate was unbelievable. Small example, in the comments to a WSJ article about Aaron Rodgers not being vaccinated, some woman (based on her name) says she hoped he'd die a painful death from COVID. Maybe she was just a Bears fan. And, don't get me started on masking school kids.
I look forward to catching up on your older posts. Hang in there.
Third time trying to post a response before being kicked off the internet. This was all clear over the first three months of 2000. Nancy Pelosi made sure things were as miserable as possible for the American people in order to elect more Democrats. Biden ran on a platform of I am not Trump, and immediately on taking office proved it by undoing everything Trump.
I wrote that schools were the safest place for kids, and there were zero reported cases of transmission from a child to a teacher. All lies. I wrote that masks on those under five indoors was child abuse, and masks on anyone outdoors were stupid, causing far more harm than good. I predicted steep rises in child abuse, substance abuse and suicide. All lies.
And, here we are.
Ok, I just paid $50 to subscribe so I could comment and tell you that I am so sorry for your loss. We lost my husband's sister to an OD in Nov 2020. She had struggled with addiction for years but she had found a counselor and was doing well. But in the covid madness everything in CA shut down and she lost the personal connection. She was forced into Zoom counseling which didn't work, obviously. I absolutely count her as a loss to over-zealous covid restrictions.
Dear Brad
I'm so deeply sorry for your terrible pain and loss. Thank you so much for having the courage to tell us about it. Your beautiful writing and clear voice are very important. Please take heart.
Pain sinks into the meridians, yes. Into our cells. Into our souls. Whatever you want to call it. I agree and know, and have been there. We are all destined to feel it and carry it, unfortunately. Somewhere along the line.
Yet so does love. The two are, infinitely and inevitably, interlinked. Please allow this message of love from a complete stranger to sink in there to add a small counterweight to your pain.
I have watched, too, as my beloved daughter has sunk into isolation and despair and dysfunction during these last three awful years of societal paralysis and pathology. Hers is the despair of a young life, locked up, after she had just started out from school and was meant to embark on the next stage of her journey. The helplessness I feel is overwhelming. She had no-one but us. And that is not enough. A mother or father is no replacement for a circle of friends. A boyfriend. A life of sun and outings and talk and laughter and doing things. Living.
All a mother can do is hold our children close, if we can, and provide as many counter-narratives to all of the nihilistic messaging and fear-mongering that the safetyists and crisis-actors and hystericists can throw at us. I don't care if they call me a loon or an extremist or a conspiracy theorist - let them do their worst. Our duty is to ensure that our children do not lose hope, above all else.
I hold you in my heart. And your beautiful Jamie. I know that anyone who reads your story, will do so. Even if they don't. They would. That is what your story was meant to do.
With love and healing,
J
I'm so sorry for your loss. How terribly tragic. It has obviously affected you deeply.
This was very well written. Despite all your factual research, I fear that people just want to forget what happened. They don't want to deal with it. The biggest excuse I hear is "but they didn't really know what they were up against." They just want to move on.
Sadly I believe accountability will ultimately be minimal. We're up against something my logical mind has yet to comprehend. Keep writing. We can only hope it makes a difference.
Brad, I don't know that I had read this before. Your writing always touches me in some way. That history, however, fell short of preparing me for those 20 minutes. Your fictional pieces really stuck with me. Now I know why
We all tire of polical platitudes, filled with airy rhetoric about all the wonderful outcomes from these policies we know wreak havoc instead of fortify. We get glimpses into the consequences, as i do working with struggling, usually homeless, families in our community. (Side note- our organization held a meeting not two weeks into school shutdowns. We all knew the hardest hit would be the disadvantaged communities, so we put some duct tape and baling wire plans together to supplement remote "learning. In the fall, we learned almost 40% of the school population had never bothered to log on- not once- after schools closed in the spring. Any guess as to what type of kids fell through the cracks?)
The outcomes rarely reach the guy making speeches. The rigged game ensures they won't. The Great Society ruined the family structure of black communities, but hey, they got a near universal voting block because of it (as LBJ predicted, in very colorful terms that have been conveniently memory-holed to this day)
But politics affect actual people. Reactions to meta events find fertile ground in a scared and vulnerable population. Of course, no one takes accountability. Old news, they say. Our betters won't even claim unintended consequences. No, they claim they held the opposite position. The gaslighting may do more damage to the nation's psychy than the event itself. It frustrates and demoralizes beyond words
This piece punched me in the stomach. I too lost a friend- not as close as Jamie- but a mentoree who meant so very much to me. She OD'd last summer. We worked years together getting her to a better place. She was isolated and alone. Her escapism prevailed, as did her love. This quirky, talented, rough background kid changed my life for the better. I wish I could tell her that, just one more time
Thank you, Brad. My very best wishes. I will return to this article time and again. It will always humanize me
I started reading "Because of Jenny" and it made me re-read this post.
I don't have anything to add. Powerful, man. Very sad. I'm sorry for your loss.
I think historians of the future will write whole books on 2020. It was a very transformative year.
In March 2020, I told anyone who would listen that this was a mental health nightmare. The increasing suicide numbers in April, May and June confirmed this nightmare for me. I prayed for you and Jamie without knowing you. I will pray for you now by name every morning. What was done is a soul crushing crime against humanity.
Hi Brad,
I am sorry about Jamie. She looks like such a sweet person. She did NOT deserve what happened to her!!! Neither do you. I wish there was a way to ease even a tiny bit of what you're going through. I think all of your subscribers feel the same way. Those are nice photos of you and Jamie. Persephone and Mr Grey send purrs. I don't purr so please accept a small virtual hug. And a yap-yap-yap from Gibbs.