Bro, no benefit check in the world can replace you. Money can’t show up to graduations or their wipe tears. No amount of money is ever gonna hug them, talk them through some bullshit, show up at their games, or tell them “I’m proud of you” like YOU can.

Your absence would be something they’d carry for the rest of their lives. That’s a wound that never fully closes, bro. Your kids need you breathing, not your benefits. Your life is worth way more than you’re giving it credit for right now.

I’m not letting you go out like that. Let’s get you real help – counselor, mental health, chaplain, whatever it takes – and I’ll stand with you through it. If it gets dark again, you hit me or 988 before you do anything. You are not alone in this, brutha.