Tamar Braxton on Sister Traci’s Death – ‘We Kind of Really Don’t Know How to Pick up the Pieces’
Braxton Family Values fans will always have fond memories of the five famous sisters. For a decade, viewers were entertained and inspired by their ups and downs and developed a personal connection to each sister. This is why when fans learned of the unexpected passing of Traci Braxton, their worlds were rocked. As it turns out, Traci privately battled esophageal cancer for a year before her death. The family hasn’t spoken about how Traci’s transition has impacted them. But in a recent interview, Tamar opened up about how they are trying to move forward in Traci’s honor.
Tamar Braxton says the family is still trying to pick up the pieces since Traci’s death
The youngest Braxton sibling has been mum about how she’s grappling with the loss of her beloved sister. While the final few seasons of the We tv reality series was filled with sister arguments, they loved one another to their core and worked behind the scenes to mend their estranged relationships.
Tamar is credited with creating the show. She says she did so to showcase a positive image of a Black family on reality television. The “Love & War” singer feels her mission is accomplished despite their hiccups and believes that the show serves an even greater purpose since Traci’s passing.
“I believe that the Braxtons has been completely impactful to our community. It hasn’t been a show like it since. I’m proud of my sisters for being so transparent, and vulnerable like myself, and my mom too. It was important, and it still is important,” she told Kirk Franklin on his Good Words podcast. “There’s still a lot of lessons, especially now. We’ve never been in a situation where we had death so close to us. This is our first experience. And it’s been very peculiar, especially as sisters. We kind of really don’t know how to pick up the pieces. We’re still trying to figure that out everyday.”
The singer and reality star gets real about learning of Traci’s diagnosis
Fans weren’t aware of Traci’s illness until after the family announced her passing. Details about the last year of Traci’s life has been kept under wraps, but a spokesperson did reveal that in her final days, she was under hospice care and preferred for things to be kept out of the public eye.
Tamar echoes such sentiments. She told Franklin that the family remained by Traci’s side throughout the entire ordeal.
“I want to be as respectful to her as possible because she wanted it private. We were very faithful and hopeful because she was. She really, truly did rally her family around her to believe in God on a different level,” Tamar explained. “We truly, honestly believed for a miracle. And the truth is He [God] gave it to us, and that’s what the gotcha is. Because although she’s gone, so many times they [the doctors] would say, ‘This is it.’ I would call and say, ‘I gotta go to D.C. because they’re calling the family. I think they called the family at least 22 times.”
She says Traci’s illness strengthened her faith
While losing a loved one is devastating, the Braxtons are a faith-based family. When asked whether or not her faith was shaken during Traci’s last year, Tamar said the opposite happened. She referenced her public mental health crisis of 2020, which left her hospitalized after an attempted suicide. Through that experience, she says she was experienced a rebirth, and her faith in God was strengthened.
“I went through extensive therapy, and part of that was grief counseling…and I feel like I went through that horrible time to help me get through this,” she told Franklin. “Because had I not gone through that, I don’t know if I would have been in control of my emotions the way that I am not to mentally sustain this kind of hurt.
