There’s Always a Girl Story: The Crystal Merchant

In the summer of 2020, I started an essay series entitled An Ode to Self-Care. A couple years removed from my 2000-words-a-day regiment, I felt an intuitive urge to get back into shape. I used the My Summer Rewind, a 50-song playlist curated by Spotify, created by tracks I played the most between June and […]

There’s Always a Girl Story: Chocolate Croissant, pt. 1

“What did Cydney call you for?” Courtney asked. I had been in a studio session in Queens with my sister and longtime friend, Kristen all day. It was almost midnight and my daughter had not heard from her dad in almost 12 hours. “She called me to ask “Daddy where is my black and white […]

There’s Always a Girl Story: The French Girls, Pt. 1

“Wouldn’t it be interesting for the story to begin, just meeting and talking in a coffee shop?” Noiéme inquired. It was a little after 1pm and the shop closed at 12:30 for the day. It seemed as if the two of us lingered and let time stand still for a moment before we went our […]

10 Years of Single dadventures: a letter to myself

Chad Travis Milner, Ten years in business ain’t no chump shit…don’t ever forget it. In the summer of 2012, you were 26, and began to see some light after the darkest 16 months of your life. You became a father February 14, 2011, your partner diagnosed with terminal cancer days later, you moved thrice in […]

Unpacking Peace of Mind: November 1, 2011

October 31, 2021 To read the original post from 2012, click here. Ten years ago, I left my friend Chase’s apartment in Mt. Rainier, Maryland. As he left for work, I began the final leg of my drive from Buffalo to my new home, Newport News, Virginia. I could have made the 10-hour trek in […]

There’s Beauty in the Withering: October 22, 2011

Listen to Podcast version, Read it Because I Wrote It, here. October 22, 2011. A week before, Timile and I said so long to our daughter. Cydney was the first to move from Buffalo to Virginia, Timile a week later, and I the weekend which followed. Before their departure, my mother in-law asked for power […]

A Critical Mind

Around 1am on a humid 4th of July, I waited outside of my friends’ hotel in New Orleans’ French Quarter. I came to New Orleans for my college roommate’s wedding; and after the nuptials, shooting a music video at the reception, and a drink in hand for the past nine hours, it was time to […]

It’s Time to Sing a New Song…

“Ayo, quick, give me a topic to write about,” I said to Genevieve at her workplace in Queens. Despite a fortnight of experiences to expound on, I had yet to make my way to the proverbial chair and needed a challenge-or prompt-to coax my thoughts into words onto this very page. Genevieve was quite the […]

Living in A Different World

In one of my frequent phone conversations with my good friend Kofi, I heard a familiar sound in the background. “I know which episode of A Different World that is!” I remarked. I was wrong and Kofi reveled in it with a rib at my expense. “You know what, you’re right. It is the telethon […]

How Love Story and its Sequel Mirrored My Life

This essay contains quite a bit of adult language, and by adult language, I mean the words “shit, fuck, and bullshit” fly throughout this piece. I watched Oliver’s Story, the 1978 sequel to Love Story, a film often considered one of the most romantic movies of all time. For years, I put off the hour […]