While I always took pride in being a pragmatic man and scoffed at the concept of ghosts, I’m now a believer.
I began “filming” for Fluffer71 on March 13, 2021, which marked the one year anniversary of the night I caught COVID-19, when in my defiance of the city beginning to shut down I went bar hopping and bowling (poorly 🍻🥴🎳).
Humbled by my defiance and the death of my dad (who ironically also caught COVID-19 at a bowling alley), the anniversary felt like an appropriate time to express my gratitude for life, which ultimately inspired the launch of Fluffer71.
What I didn’t understand at the time was that my journey was just beginning. The kickoff of Fluffer71 was more than a chance to express myself creatively, the project would become the catalyst for recouping traumatic childhood memories that my family had erased from me noggin, which dated back to gay conversion therapy via hypnosis in 1978.
Now that my foundation has been restored – despite my family’s efforts to break my soul, censor me, and portray me as a delusional man in an effort to stop the memories of my Grandpa Joe from resurfacing – I have a newfound appreciation for not only my humbling but the existence of ghosts.
At the insistence of my parents, after establishing a friendship with my grandfather in the summer of 1978, my Grandpa Joe begrudgingly conducted the gay conversion therapy that would effectively erase any memories of our time together.
Heartbroken by my parents’ selfish decision, in addition to promising me money and a home to atone for my family’s crimes, during our last meeting together, my Grandpa Joe also promised me he’d be with me in spirit throughout my awakening process.
Maybe my pragmatism surrendered to romanticism, but I like to think my Grandpa Joe coauthored of “The Haunting of Damon Wallace” and directed the video associated with the essay. Looking back on this specific video, I also like to think it was him who pressed “play” as a symbolic gesture to help kickoff my awakening.
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