sometimes talking about your pain triggers mine -

can trauma be contagious?

i can hardly verbalize the truth because i start to feel heat in my face and shame in my chest and its no longer just your story; it’s mine, too.

enmeshed is what we want to avoid, the entangling of your life with mine, but how really does one ensure that?

can we dissect your ptsd from the secondary case i caught?
i would like that very much - a return to naiveté
when adults were adults
and kids could be kids
where problems could be solved
and hurts could be healed.

the neurological pathways have been formed, new connections made. standing in hobby lobby and listening to a child’s tantrum is not a safe thing anymore.

there are nuances to every interaction, noise, sight.

walking on eggshells isn’t just for them; it’s for us, the ones who might accidentally find ourselves undone at the slightest deviation from safety.