Family Gatherings ...Need I Say More?! (approx. 2½ min. read)

There’s a really important family gathering coming up on Saturday and although I’ve been warned by quite a few people, not to go, I’m going.

The celebration is an Uncle’s 80th and there are a lot of relatives coming from overseas to join in on the fun. Relatives that have no clue what’s been going on over here, but still insisting they want to see us, so we’re going to go ...regardless of the stress and anxiety it’s been causing me for months.

I haven’t had any contact with my parents since I stopped calling them and to me, I’ve been stressing about this gathering ever since I heard about it a year ago and trying to figure out how I’m going to get through it...

It’s been almost a year since I’ve been to a family gathering on my side of the family and the last one was such a trigger...

Having people turn their backs on me when I walked up to them, being accused of lying and self-diagnosing. It makes me shake my head because why would anyone make this shit up?! Don’t they know how hard it is for people to speak up about mental health?!

Anyway, I have a plan... I’m going to walk in there with my head held high and if anyone says anything nasty to me, I’m going to remind them that we are at a birthday celebration for someone that we all love and that we need to focus on that. I will also tell them that if they’re interested, I would be more than willing to talk at a later date. Something I’ve been trying to do for years...

Stay safe and stay strong. Thanks for following.