I walked away from a significant financial offer, enough to keep a roof over my head, enough to buy time, finish school, stabilize. I knew exactly what it would cost me. I did it anyway. Because I knew what signing would mean.

The absence of support transformed my struggles into a solitary battle, one that I had to face without the understanding or compassion that

My loneliness is not about the absence of others. It’s about the collapse of shared reality.