Hi @Appleblossom 

It’s so lovely to hear from you 

I’m so deeply sorry to hear that for the most part, your Birthdays haven’t been acknowledged or celebrated by those around you 

In my experience, being ostracised by members of our family can evoke so many powerful emotions and I felt my heart sink when you shared ‘you kind of get use to it.’

I could really relate to this part of your story, as this is something that I’ve said to myself on numerous occasions. During these times, I’ve always been amazed how this seemingly benign phrase has the power to conceal and covertly communicate some of the emotions that I wasn’t able to voice. For example, anger, hurt and a deep sense of despair and resignation that despite my wanting things to be different, my situation would remain unchanged.

Absolutely! Initiating a grievance process can be an enormous undertaking and I can really appreciate your position in relation to this. Perhaps similar to you, this is only something that I would initiate after careful consideration and if I believed that it was necessary to prevent harm to myself or another person.  

It’s always lovely to hear from you and I look forward to seeing you around the forums 

Take kind and gentle care of yourself,

ShiningStar