Read
Letters written to problems, not people – by everyday champions, like you.
Please consider engaging with the content you are about to read.
Dear Stranger
(to an unknown man)
There aren’t many places I feel alive. The one I found was a haven for my soul to replenish. It felt like you hunted me down that night when you infiltrated my bubble & made me feel small. You stole my peace and my joy with your creepy words. The time you spoke seemed endless, and your words landed weightier than you could comprehend. In that moment I witnessed myself shrink again, in a space I was learning to be big. You diminished my hard work. I am more than what you see of me and more than what you made me feel. That shame doesn’t belong to me sir.
Female, Age 33
T1D
There is no intermission
No curtain call,
No dimming lights,
Just numbers glowing in the dark.
It’s lows after midnight,
Math before breakfast,
And alarms that do not care
If I am tired.
They say “manage it”
Like it’s a planner
Like it fits into neat boxes
But it lives outside the lines
It bleeds into every moment
I don’t think I am as afraid
Of the highs and lows
As I am afraid
Of never getting a break.
The constant awareness
The counting
The calculating
The quiet fear of getting it all wrong
- Female, 17 y/o
- Diabetes, Type I
craptastic diabetes
You woke me up again in the middle of the night just to make me wonder why my numbers were saying one thing and I was feeling low. In this state of confusion you bring out the worst feelings in me and I’d truly appreciate it if you could just lay off so I can sleep peacefully once in a while.. You get enough attention.
Marijuana (AKA Suzie Q)
You’ve kept me company through the hardest of times. You’ve offered comfort, creative insight and a radical sense of acceptance on more than one occasion; for which I am eternally grateful. Our relationship is changing, though, and I’m having a hard time setting boundaries and prioritizing my needs because – admittedly – I’m attached… Do we need to break-up or can we effectively redefine our relationship?