You’d mistaken my anxiety-driven silence and avoidance for snobbery

“Mommy, I love public school, but why do I feel better and more accepted in a school like this?”

I was traumatized; not by the birth itself, but at the belief that I’d failed: as a student, as a woman, as a mother

You don’t know all that, and you still sent over flowers to show that you’re happy for me

I’m so happy you’re engaged, but what’s with all the expectations?

I see you yearning for a connection, and it breaks my heart, but I can’t provide it

Neh, you’d say, big deal. It’s nothing. But nothing it is not. It’s major

There’s a reason why it’s worth hosting you even though I find myself exhausted after Shabbos

Remember reading those pieces? Well, I’m the girl in all those articles. Nice to finally meet you

Please don’t wrap me in foam and netting like an esrog. I’m not that fragile