Thinking of you today Brandon. You are missed and often in our minds... forever in our hearts. It was an honor to know you. Perhaps one day we will meet again.

Thinking of you today on your birthday. Thinking also of your family. They miss you terribly and think of you often and with great affection and deep love.
Happy Birthday Brandon.

Brandon and I met in 6th grade and we had 2 classes together, P.E. And Band. He would always save me a seat in band class and we ended up both playing the trumpet together. He was my first love. We only dated for a year, but we stayed friends afterwards. I remember going to his 13th birthday party. His mom and I went to get the balloons and cake beforehand and we went to a dance studio cause he wanted to share his love for dancing with his friends. I was too shy to dance with him and so we went out back and danced outside and it started to rain. That was our first kiss and I’ve always held that dear to me. I remember a few years ago my then boyfriend broke up with me and I called Brandon crying. All he said was “come on over I got a full bottle of southern comfort, we can talk about it but I don’t want to see you crying anymore” he was always such a sweetheart and so very kind. Shortly after that happened he had to move away for a while. He gave me his cat Thumper and she’s all I have left to remember him by… He is missed dearly. Im so sad that he had to go…

My cousin was a real special guy......in more way than one. I remember being a young punk and he was ballroom dancing then playing football and I didn’t know what to think.This man did whatever he put his mind to even if halfway through he hated it at least he’d put his all into and try. We’ve all had our challenges in life but Brandon had a couple more tossed at him in the hardest moments. We don’t have a manual for stuff like this we don’t grow up getting told “Your gonna struggle think you got it and struggle again and then maybe you’ll make it”. We grow up thinking we are invincible until we’ve wasted so much time you have to look for different ideals and opinions and he did he traveled he helped people he again did what he had to do to make his life better for himself and his family. Unfortunately sometimes when we let go of the things that keep us human (daily contact with loved ones,a place to call home,a couple bucks to eat). You can’t help but lose yourself a little and if you’ve been anywhere near that kind of a situation you know what I mean. What I’m getting at and I want everyone to know is my cousin fought and fought and fought even his own stubborn butt half the time but he was in a constant battle with life among other things really just trying to live a normal life but he gave it his all just like we all should every day knowing we lost a real different amazing special person. Someone you could ask to go fishing in the middle of the night or butt crack of dawn and he’d be ready in 5. Someone you could ask for a hand at work and he’d ride along paid or not just to help. Someone that could charm the ladies and make friends with the meanest guy you can find because he believed in himself we had a bond of brotherhood that I will cherish for the rest of my life along with all the memories and 5 hour conversations about literally anything we all have a piece of him don’t let go.

I love you cousin I love you brother, hold my seat and start a camp fire as uncle T would say!

Peace

-Ray

I didn’t have the pleasure of spending a lot of time with Brandon but I do know that when we did meet, it was always so easy to be around him and chat with him. The last time he and I spoke on the phone about his love for driving dogs around the country and he had asked me to help him by giving him a shout out in my doggie groups... which I did, and then I connected him with a woman who needed help. He thanked me and reached out and we were supposed to meet up next time he was in Los Angeles and have drinks. ♥️ I really liked talking with him and enjoyed his energy and vibe. He just seemed like a down to earth and honest guy with kindness and love in his heart. Really easy to like. I’m sorry we will never have that drink and I’m deeply saddened that his journey took the turn it did. I only hope and pray he’s found his dad and is existing in love and light. ♥️

My favorite memory of Brandon is when, he called me up and said, mom get ready I’m picking you up . I said, where are we going ? He said, I can’t tell you, it’s a surprise. I told him ok.
I remember feeling so excited about what we were doing and what he had planned for us.
When he picked me up he drove me around the lake for the beautiful scenery being sure to comment how pretty it was, he themed took me too lunch and introduced me to Sushi and salmon balls which became our favorite thing to do together.
He made me feel so special and like I was the luckiest mom in the world for my son to think of me I’m a way where he wanted me to feel special and know he loved me. Brandon and I were always so close no matter how far apart we were. He now will be my guardian angel with my daddy ❤️ ~ Andrea Gayles ~