Toni Braxton Opens Up About Sister Traci’s Death: ‘We’re Fortunate to Have Had Her As Long As We Did’

It’s been over two weeks since the entertainment industry was stunned by reports of the death of Traci Braxton after her secret battle with esophageal cancer, but – for the Braxton family and their fans – the news still has them reeling.

Although the surviving Braxton sisters – Toni, Towanda, Trina, and Tamar – issued joint and separate statements about the matter, as have Traci’s husband, son, and mother (as we reported here), Toni is the first to take to media to express her grief.

While hot on the promo trail for her forthcoming Lifetime movie ‘Fallen Angels Murder Club,’ the R&B legend opened up to Tamron Hall about how the family is coping with life without Traci.

Hear what she said inside:

On Tuesday’s episode (March 29), Toni shared thoughts about how she believes Traci is still with her in spirit.

“I’m a rain girl, I love when it rains. My sister Traci, she loves when it snows, and she died that morning when it was actually pouring down snow in Virginia. So, my sister is now a snowflake,” Toni shared. “And her favorite bird was a hummingbird and I saw a hummingbird the other day, and it just kind of flew around and kind of suspended itself, and I was like, ‘Traci?’ and it started bumping and going up and down. So, that made me feel so much better, I felt like she was trying to say hello to me.”

Elsewhere in the conversation, the ‘Unbreak My Heart’ hitmaker discussed Traci’s final days.

“Her [Traci] and her son were so close, her and her grandson and her son’s wife. We were just a big family. We were all there. Her son was there, husband was there, everyone was there. Her best friends were there, everyone was there with her. She had so much love,” the songstress said. “The hospice nurses were incredible. You never think that it’s going to happen to you and your family. So, you have to remind yourself to enjoy the moments, be happy and it’s okay if you fuss and fight, but just enjoy the moments and try to just smile and be happy. Be kind to one another.”

In addition to discussing how she and her surviving sisters are planning to make a big to-do of what would’ve been Traci’s 51st birthday (April 2), Toni reflected fondly about her relationship with the fallen singer-actress.

“We’re so close. We’re more than sisters. We’re kind of like twins, I like to call it. We’re bound together by more than just DNA, by blood and it is just something special that my parents did such a fantastic job raising all of us together, making us so close. And so, to lose one, makes it a little more difficult sometimes. I wake up every morning and I go, ‘Did I dream it? Did I dream it?’ and I have to remind myself ‘No, she’s gone but she’s been here with us for 50 years.’ So, I try to relish in that moment and try to smile about it, and just be grateful for the time you have,” she shared before adding, “We always loved each other. And we’re just very fortunate to have had my sister with us for as long as we did.”

[main photo source: Getty Images]