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Trina and Towanda Braxton Celebrate National Sisters Day Every Day: ‘We Know Each Other’s Deepest, Darkest Secrets’

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Happy National Sisters Day! Having sisters, whether or not they are related or not, tends to carry a special place in our lives and hearts. The Braxtons know all too well how necessary the sisterhood is, having showcased their unique family values ​​on TV for over a decade. But after a transient hiatus following the death of their beloved sister Traci from esophageal cancer, they’re preparing for his or her big return to the silver screen.

In this recent series, the beloved Braxton women reunite for the primary time for the reason that lack of their sister, giving viewers a raw and unfiltered have a look at the family’s ups and downs over eight gripping episodes. Toni, Towanda, Trina, Tamar and their mother, Evelyn Braxton (Ms. E), navigate careers, health challenges and busy personal lives while strengthening the family’s bond.

Toni faces a serious health challenge as she prepares to return to Vegas. Trina begins therapy for PTSD. Towanda battles alopecia areata. Tamar focuses on her path to wellness. Mrs. E.’s dream of a cooking show becomes a reality. But the family reunion continues to lift questions and unresolved issues. Will Traci’s final wish be enough to bring the family back together prefer it once was?

You’ll have to look at to seek out out, but one thing is needless to say that hasn’t modified: the love and close bond between Towanda and Trina Braxton. We spoke with them about how they’re keeping their sisterly bond strong while mourning the lack of considered one of their sisters, and what we are able to expect from the brand new season.

ESSENCE: Even though you are all close (The Braxtons), you appear to have such a detailed bond. Why?

Towanda Braxton: We all have our periods of closeness, but I’ll say that Trina and I are incredibly close—we’re almost like twins. We wish to think that we’re almost like twins because we’re 15 months apart and we understand one another. I’d say that plenty of the times once we did B, it was at all times me, Trina, and Traci, so our bond was somewhat different than the opposite sisters’ bond. I don’t need to say that we’re not near anyone else within the family; it’s just a distinct type of bond.

Trina Braxton: Towanda and I live close to one another. Traci and my brother Michael have at all times lived closest to one another. Because of that, we are usually not necessarily separated, but because we live so close to one another, we will not help but gravitate towards the one who lives closest to us.

What does sisterhood mean to you and why is it necessary?

Trina Braxton: Oh wow. Sisterhood is all the pieces, not because we share the identical parents or the identical room at one point or one other, but my sister, especially Tawanda. I’m not singling anyone out, but my best friend in the entire world. We talk on the phone no less than eight times a day; we share all the pieces: pain, suffering, happiness. I filmed the birth of considered one of Towanda’s children. So my sisterhood with all my sisters is considered one of the strongest bonds you’ll be able to have. We know where one another’s bodies are. We know one another’s deepest, darkest secrets. Sisterhood means you might be secure with the data they share with you, your heart and your emotions. When Traci was now not with us, it was considered one of the best pains I’ve ever had in my life, but at the identical time I used to be capable of have fun our previous life together.

Towanda Braxton: Sisterhood is incredibly necessary since it helps you progress beyond friendships. I move toward friends who’ve the identical personalities as my sisters since it helps me in my relationships with my sisters. You can move away from friends, but you’ll be able to’t move away from sisters. It’s an embedded love and connection that you may’t erase, cut off, reject, or run away from.

I saw a few of your grieving process within the episodes concerning the lack of Traci, but could you speak about how this loss affected you individually and as a family?

Towanda Braxton: I see death and leaving the earthly world in a different way than I believe a few of my relations do. Sean (Towanda’s long-time partner) at all times tells me that I even have an innate ability to suppress and release. So despite the fact that Traci will not be here physically, I do know the reality is that your spirit never dies because you might be a spirit before you might be a human being. I see her in my dreams or she comes to go to me, with a hummingbird, because she at all times told us that should you see a hummingbird, it’s her. But it is a missing piece in my heart and my life that she’s not here physically, but I’m grateful to God for the gift of Tracy for 50, almost 51 years. I’m glad she was chosen to be a component of my life.

What is considered one of the Braxton family values ​​that translates to your sisterly bond?

Trina Braxton: I’m unsure if this value may very well be considered one word, but the truth is that this: so long as you might be here, there may be time to repair the damage and there aren’t any arguments. No situation should tear you away from your loved ones and sisterhood. So, so long as there may be breath and a brand new day, there may be time for a brand new starting, to revive all the pieces you thought was lost.

How has your sisterhood developed over time?

Trina Braxton: Well, considered one of the most important changes for us has been boundaries. It’s crazy to say that, but we’re still learning to set healthy boundaries because sometimes we see ourselves as young girls who grew up together and told one another all the pieces. But a brand new boundary needs to be set as we evolve and turn out to be moms, wives, and parents. Because once you get married and turn out to be a mom, you create your personal little ecosystem and family.

How do you intend to have fun National Sisters Day this weekend?

Towanda Braxton: We at all times need to have a drink.

What can viewers expect from the brand new season?

Towanda Braxton: There will probably be recaps of previous seasons, including never-before-seen photos and videos of Traci. There will probably be love, laughter, joy, tears. They will probably be the everyday, but adult and evolved Braxton sisters. Something is missing, elementary. Traci is missed. She brought plenty of laughter, plenty of love and jokes. She bought plenty of things.

This article was originally published on : www.essence.com
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Health and Wellness

Mental health care and medical abortion are on the rise amid the election

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Following the 2024 presidential election, which put Donald Trump in the White House for a second term, Americans’ demand for mental health facility visits and contraception and medical abortion orders has increased.

reported data from Zocdoc, a web-based medical appointment booking service, which showed a 22% increase in mental health appointments the day after the election. Calls for greater than doubling of mental health care for Lyra Health, the world’s leading provider of mental healthcare services for workers. The company identified nearly half of its 24-hour hotline patients as first-time callers.

According to sexual and reproductive health platform Wisp, medical abortion orders skyrocketed to 600% on November 5. The day after the election, the company saw a virtually 1,000% increase in sales of emergency contraceptives. “Trump’s nomination as president-elect has created further uncertainty about women’s reproductive rights,” said Monica Cepak, CEO of Wisp. The company saw sales of emergency contraceptives from recent customers increase by 1,650%. “These statistics show that women are stockpiling this offer in anticipation of further restrictions being introduced,” Cepak added.

As already mentioned by o BLACK ENTERPRISESafter v. was overturned in 2022, abortion rights amendments were amongst Americans’ top concerns heading into the 2024 presidential election. November ballots in 10 states, including Florida, Montana, Colorado and Nebraska, in line with NBC News exit polls , included abortion initiatives. Voters showed strong support for abortion in states akin to Arizona, Maryland, New York and Nevada in an effort to guard reproductive rights.

Proponents of reproduction he said what Trump’s victory could mean for black women in America, who reportedly have higher maternal mortality rates in comparison with their white counterparts. Kelly Blanchard, president of the global sexual and reproductive health research nonprofit IBIS Reproductive Health, believes Kamala Harris has been a “true advocate for sexual and reproductive health rights and justice.” Under the recent Trump administration, Power to Decide senior policy manager Monica Edwards fears that “this Project 2025 document will now be the playbook for the contraception ban, the abortion ban, and the broad ban on reproductive health rights and justice.”

TO BE noted the report published in May by the National Partnership for Women and Families (NPWF) and In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda, which revealed that of the 11.8 million black women of childbearing age nationwide, seven million live in states where abortion restrictions have been or are planned.


This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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Health and Wellness

Tia Mowry revealed the reason for her divorce with the help of Jackée Harry

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appears to be doing well as episodes of the show encourage conversation. In the latest episode, the actress sat down with her ex-partner Jackeé Harry to debate dating after their divorce.

Social media users are reacting to several talking points, especially Harry, who seemingly alludes to why Tia and her ex-husband Cory Hardrict split after 14 years. The actress suggested that Hardrict was unhappy because Tia’s profession was going higher than his. Fans have been speculating about the reasons for the split since announcing their separation in late 2022 and finalizing their divorce in April 2023. The 46-year-old has not provided an actual reason.

“If I may say, someone else was unhappy that they weren’t working,” Harry said during the chat. “One partner making more cash or being more successful is a niche that’s so wide that it’s inconceivable to fight it. You cannot have competition. It just doesn’t work,” Harry, 68, said.

“You can’t stop your career because you want to level it up,” added the actress, also emphasizing that she doesn’t “dislike” Hardrict. – But I already told him. I said, “I’m on Tia’s side.” I do know that in a divorce you’ve got to decide on one side. I don’t desire him to feel bad.”

In addition to briefly touching on the contentious issues in the former couple’s relationship, the former colleagues also spoke more broadly about dating and the idea that you could have all the things in life.

“You told me you can’t have everything in life,” Mowry told Harry, who played his mother, Lisa, in “Sister, Sister” through tears.

“Not all at once,” Harry interjected. “I told you I had it for three years of my profession, I had all of it my whole life. I had a person, a baby and money. Yes, all the things was working after which all of it went flawed,” she admitted.

From 1996 to 2003, Harry was married to hair stylist Elgin Charles.

“It was phenomenal. I had support. I had nannies. I had beach boys. I mean, I had everything, but you can’t have it all the time. Someone has to stay home with the kids or nurture the man’s ego. […] Do I sound bitter?” she asked.

During her confession, the mother of two children also admitted that she was afraid that she might make the same mistakes after the divorce.

“Working, being a mother and putting a lot of effort into dating right now is a lot to juggle and balance.” She continued: “And I can’t help but wonder if I’m repeating the same mistake now.”

Mowry has been open about her journey of healing from her divorce and sometimes posts relatable dating videos on TikTok. Even though fans are heavily criticizing her for leaving Hardrict and starting a brand new life, we hope that the actress will find the love she is looking for.

This article was originally published on : www.essence.com
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Are you thinking about dating someone with kids? Read this book first.

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Erica Grace is an creator, lawyer, and parenting dating consultant who believes that a single person (without children) can have a healthy and long-term relationship – dare I say marriage – with a parent.

“I would be bored if I said no,” Grace tells ESSENCE. “I want to fall in love again and I have two children.” The creator is a single mother who can be divorced, but her relationship and experience with dating her parents didn’t start out that way.

The New York native was once single, without children, and dating a person with a daughter. The couple fell in love, got married and had children. Eight years after her wedding, she decided to go away the wedding as a result of infidelity. In the midst of her destruction, Grace decided to show her grief into service. This was the catalyst for her recent book, . The self-help text took six years to jot down, but divorce was the motivation for Grace to place her insights on paper and share them with the world.

“I went into this as a single girl dating her parent. So this situation allowed me to fully understand the different players in a blended family,” the creator tells ESSENCE. “If I will help someone within the situation I’m in – in order that their marriage doesn’t end due to lack of boundaries or lack of preparation – then I feel like I’ve done something about the suffering.”

In , Erica Grace provides a “road map” for navigating what it takes to ascertain a high level of commitment with someone with children, however the creator emphasizes that the book is a tool for stepdads, single parents, and single people dating alike with parents . She explores topics similar to boundary-setting, co-parenting, and step-parenting from her and her interviewees’ perspectives, as their anecdotes are interwoven throughout the text. As single parenthood becomes more common within the United States, with 23% of youngsters living with one parentthere isn’t any doubt about the accuracy of the text, especially for people within the dating pool.

We talked to Grace about what people should know in the event that they’re considering dating someone who has kids (or are even completely against the concept). Here he discusses things to look out for, healthy blended families, the sadness of being separated out of your mother or father, and rather more.

“Boundaries need to be set from the beginning”: Thinking about dating someone with kids? Read this book first.
Courtesy of Erika Grace

The gist: You seemingly start the marriage by discussing your experiences as a young single person dating someone with children – what were your weak points What should others be careful for?

Erica Grace: It’s very easy to get blindsided within the early stages of dating. You are blinded by the sweetness of a baby, you are blinded by love, or perhaps you are even simply lost in infatuation with an individual. That one person you date, love, or desire tells you things that is probably not the entire picture. So if I had more knowledge and knew what to look out for, I might have noticed the flags. To have healthy blended families or healthy parenting relationships, boundaries have to be set from the start. And in order that became the crux of the book.

What are a very powerful things to think about as a single person when establishing a relationship with a parent?

If you are dating a non-custodial parent, you must ask whether the person you are dating has a parenting agreement. How often are they with their child? Do they spend every other weekend with you and never with their child? If so, that is a red flag. Do they contribute financially to the kid’s life? What is the connection between them and the kid’s other biological parent? It will take time to acknowledge the connection between the parent you are dating and your child’s other biological parent, but listen to their communication. If you’re driving with your partner and your child’s other biological parent calls, does your partner answer? How do these people interact; are they friendly? What do text messages seem like between them? You can return 10 years in text messages with my ex-husband. You’ll see every conversation we have ever had, nothing has been deleted. And then you will see the character of our conversations change between April 2023, our divorce, and the current. After this change, there isn’t any indication that I’m related to him.

On the opposite hand, if you’re dating a custodial parent, you need to grasp that your dates will have to be planned – there’s not much room for spontaneity. But ask yourself, what’s their relationship with their child? How do they interact? What are the degrees of respect? Does a mother call her son “my king”? What is their parenting style? How do they discipline their children? Is this completely different from how you would wish to discipline if you had a baby together? Remember that this person’s parenting style probably won’t change.

How should you approach parent and child dating with a couple of person?

Whatever you’re struggling with at once, multiply it by two or three. And in case your partner is messy with one ex but not the opposite, you’re still dealing with a large number. I do not think people must be excluded from the dating pool simply because they’ve a number of exes, but you higher do your due diligence.

In one other chapter you talk about the order of things. You say that in a partnership, God comes first, then the spouse, then the youngsters, after which everyone else. How did this order come about?

When you come from a family unit, there isn’t any doubt who will come first in this situation. In the case of a blended family, the situation is totally different because often the kid existed before the brand new partner. So this could be strange, especially if no boundaries have been set with this child.

So, if you ever allow your child to be within the space where your partner should exist, it would be really uncomfortable when you introduce him to someone recent. So if you’re the variety of woman who calls her son “king,” good luck finding a brand new “king” to bring into this space. Or if you’re a dad who’s connected to your daughter in a way where you confide in her, or if she’s doing the dishes or taking good care of the younger kids, that makes it harder or harder for someone else to come back into that space. You robotically grow to be a nasty stepfather because every little thing changes when a brand new person comes along. The key to this is that you have to be in a really healing space to be certain that you are selecting a superb partner.

But yes, your spouse comes before your kids. You must create this relationship with your spouse, especially when young children are involved. You wish to make certain that you are raising them together as a unit and that each one children, whether or not they were from a previous relationship or out of your relationship, were loved the identical, disciplined the identical and every little thing was equal. And if you do not have this order, your own home might be a large number.

In the book you discuss the difficulty of mourning, more specifically when you break up with parent, then you break up with their child. But as you explained, it goes beyond that. What does mourning seem like when you reunite with your parent and grow to be a part of a blended family?

Oddly enough, the mourning chapter was written before the divorce. It began with me growing up in a family unit and really having to mourn that. I at all times loved my stepdaughter, but I understood that there would at all times be one other adult who would have a say in what was occurring. I also wished she could possibly be at every event. I needed to regret it.

After the divorce, this separation developed. That’s why I feel that as a single person marrying someone with children, you should regret not having a standard family. Then, as a single mom, I needed to mourn the indisputable fact that my children would have to go away home and never be with me at times, which was painful. I wrote a chapter titled “Don’t Throw the Baby Out with the Bathwater” since it focuses on what happens after a wedding ends. What will occur to my relationship with my stepdaughter? I raised her for eight years. It’s unfair to her and unfair to my children and her siblings.

What are your hopes for this book? What type of insights and inspiration can you offer readers, with or without children, who would really like to have a healthy, sustainable and long-lasting relationship?

I hope that married people can use this as a tool to recalibrate. I hope that folks in relationships with individuals who have grow to be stepparents actually read this book – and not only stepparents. They need to grasp their weak points; perhaps they need to give their spouse a voice. Perhaps in some sense they’ve to start out from scratch. I hope this allows people to recalibrate so that they can have a healthier relationship. I also hope that folks in extremely unhealthy relationships may have the strength to go away. There is a chapter within the book titled “Knowing When to Go.” People shouldn’t enter into relationships that cause them pain in any way. Discomfort is okay, pain isn’t.

Single people shouldn’t blindly enter right into a relationship, let alone marriage, with a parent. Ask questions. And for single parents, once you get married the order of things is: God, your spouse and your kids. But when you come together, you come together for yourself and your kids. Choose a partner that is sensible for you and your child.

This article was originally published on : www.essence.com
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