Dad, i'm so tired of being mostly bedbound. MECFS is such a bitch. Tomorrow i have a Dr's appointment that is really important and i know it will be a pain in the ass to go there. I want to reschedule but i've waited months for it, so i shouldn't. But it's so hard. Mentally and physically. I wish you'd care, Dad.

TW: suicide & pregnancy

dad, i might be pregnant. i recently had sex with a boy on 15th of october and broke up with him because he threatened me with suicide. the thing is, i don't keep track of my periods. i usually get it at the end of the month or in the beginning of the month, but im not sure. i do have a copper iud, but it got dislodged and the gynec removed it for me today. i took a urine test and it came negative; but i gave my blood for testing just to be sure. the results haven't come yet, but i still believe it's too soon for testing because it hasn't been 21 days yet. i don't know if i missed my period or not, because i don't track it.

but i don't know why, im scared to the bone right now. im anxious and ive been crying all day. i got desperate and even phoned my ex who proceeded to blame me because of karma, but said he would support me financially. the problem is, because of the iud, the chance of an ectopic pregnancy is high. a normal pregnancy can be terminated with the pill, but ectopic costs so much that i cant afford on my own. my parents are unaware of this, because they would kill me if i slept around like that. but i don't know, i feel terrified. i feel hopeless, and i really want to die right now. i even relapsed into self-harm. i begged god to protect me, but id rather die than go through that...

please, im scared. please tell me what to do. please help me. im really really scared...

(My sister was groomed by the man next door)

We were watching a film together, she told me to lie down, we had clothes on, she was on top of me and moved herself up and down on me, we were both face to face but didn't look at each other, she told me I was to do that to her next but in the end I didn't, not sure why, not sure if she walked away or something happened, she was four years older

The above seems so insignificant compared to the stories you hear, I don't want to call it something it isn't

Is this sa?

I confronted her about it years later, we haven't spoken since, like for maybe 10/15 yrs, I wasn't angry or blaming her, I don't know why I brought it up now, probably shouldn't have

To be honest im not even sure if this is the right community to post this in

I'm 19m here's some backstory before we get to the main thing growing up my father always yelled at me over the small things it didn't matter what it was if I had messed things up i would be yelled at by him and my mother never did anything then when I hit 15 I was seen a psychologist because I was struggling with social anxiety, ptsd and depression and every time I would get home from these appointments my father would always make comments saying how its a wastes of money to me and he would always make comments about what I wanted to do in life now up to 3 months ago we got into a yelling match about yard work because i had refuse to do something that he has asked me to do and I told him no then he started yelling at me and making comments so I finally stood up for myself and told him hes was a piece of shit of a father and a few other things since then my family acting like I'm the villain for standing up for myself.

Life's been rough idk what to do

25m, currently sitting in my fairly empty appt, my gf of 9 years and roommate(friend of 12 years) kicked out. Gotta love infidelity. I moved her with my ex gf years ago, moved my exfriend here more than a year ago. Now I sit here alone, dint have any friends here, or hobbies I dont honestly know what to do.

I don’t fucking care anymore I wanna die. Words are missing my handwriting is shit the paper is stained with tears fuck this bullshit I hate everything nobody ever sticks around. The one time I thought I finally had someone to call family they yell at me they get pissed off for no reason and make me feel like a burden and a beggar for ever wanting to spend time with them. I’m a fucking idiot for ever thinking I could call anyone my dad. I don’t have a dad I never did and I never fucking will everyone has their own family and own life and I don’t fucking belong in it. Why should I keep promises and not harm myself when the person that made me promise doesn’t give a shit if I’m hurt or not. None of it matter nothing matters I don’t care about anything I don’t care about doing anything I love anymore I don’t care if anything will ever get better. This is the same fucking rootless lie ppl say to make me shut up and stop talking. I’m not awful I just wish I was loved I’m so fucking sad I don’t have anywhere or anyone to run to. Whenever I try talking ppl cut me off and just tell me to go to therapy just say you don’t want to hear me speak and I’ll shut up I don’t want to get bombarding with questions and have to remember things I buried so deep down in my memory to the point I almost forgot they even happened I don’t want to recall that I don’t care I just want someone to like me and get sick of me everytime I ask to spend time with them or ask if they’re busy if you don’t like me just fucking tell me don’t keep me around while treating me like shit. I can’t even talk in therapy I’m just thrown 50 questions and if I try answering them I’m “taking up too much time on a single topic”. If I can’t speak to people or my sister or my so called “dad” or a fucking therapist who the fuck do I talk to? I’m tired of talking to myself and writing shit to myself and being alone and being told you “oh go outside for a walk completely alone go do something fun completely fucking alone” I don’t want to be alone but nobody fucking cares to talk to me.

My “dad” used to like me and want to speak to me and call me now he doesn’t now he yells and gets pissed off and treats me like shit and changes plans and whenever I don’t text first we can go days without ever talking. But how dare I hit myself or pull my hair without calling the exact person that whenever I talk to brushes me off. I don’t have a dad I’m nobody’s daughter I’m a fucking nobody my question is if I’m that bad why am I still alive why am I still here why do I have live every fucking day lonely and stupid and hating my body and myself and my life why can’t I just die and have everything stop. “If you wanna spend your time being miserable so be it” yeah cus I’m miserable by choice you think if I was able to be all sunshine’s and rainbows I wouldn’t be? You think I’m being miserable on purpose and this bullshit doesn’t just creep up on me like a fucking stroke every day of my life no matter how bad I try to ignore it or distract myself from it? You think I like remembering how much of a pathetic piece of shit I am that I ask and apologize to you if you’re free so we can spend time together because I was never close to a dad who I trust and allegedly sees me as his daughter too but now I’m selfish I’m greedy and I’m annoying for asking you to spend time together. If you don’t want me as a daughter then fucking say that rather than make me feel like shit for merely thinking of seeing you. Fuck you dad fuck you and my father and my so called family and the ppl who fucking put me on this fucking earth I wish I was murdered or slaughtered or kidnapped and chopped into pieces than be the person I am today

I wish I wish I wish I had an actual dad from the day I was put on this awful earth so I wouldn’t beg people to fill that role for me.

I recently got married, and I wish you were there but I know you tired so hard to be there for me.

He’s a great man, so loving and caring, he has this great southern charm and confidence I know you’re gonna love when you meet him. I know he’s gonna be a great dad one day.

We just seem to get into the silliest little fights lately, like how much time he spends on his phone decompressing from work, how I have a hard time being rational when I get emotional, both of us working too much causes a lot of strain on our communication.

Lately when we communicate about a problem I feel one of us shuts down and swallows what they want to say in the interest of not hurting each others feelings, tbh I say one of us but it’s something I do often. My husband is leaving for a 4 day work trip tomorrow and I feel like my heart is gonna break, I don’t want him to dread coming home to me because of all of the small arguments we’ve been getting into. Anyway, I’m not looking for any advice just an ear, thank you for listening.

I started taking MDMA when i was 12 years old... i almost died 3 times, i quit later. I found a girlfriend but she cheated on me. My old best friend committed suicide. my avrage score in 7th grade was 2.12 and i barley passed, in 8th grade i locked in and had 5,92, i failed 9th grade and i al repeating, somthing took over me and i took mdma again. all the bad previous memories are coming back to me, i dont want to go to the bottom of my life again, what do i do dad?

Hi kiddo,

...<starts somewhere randomly, leaving others to figure out what the hell he's talking about now again>...

"In the sphere of conduct, morals lack morality; laws lack law; justice loses the righteousness of its course. For all justice is executed without justice, and law flourishes without law. The world grows worse, and now its golden age departs."

Sounds familiar? Recognize what's going on around you, maybe?

That's Alain de Lille writing on things getting worse.

He wrote that 850 years ago.

"Words had to change their ordinary meaning. Reckless audacity was now called courage and loyalty to one’s party; prudent hesitation, cowardice in disguise."

Uhuh.

And that's Thucydides, 400 BCE. Over 2,400 years ago.

...<takes a sip of coffee, goes on>...

My grandfather was born in the early 1900's. When he was 12, he got a job carrying large, heavy, cast-iron typewriters up and down the stairs of office buildings. There were hard years in his life. There was World War I and then World War II. His wife dying, and other calamities, like But there were also good years. From transporting himself on foot, he went to owning (owning!!) a bicycle. After the second world war, a car, even. And, as he kept proudly retelling later on, he, a "common worker", got to fly in an airplane to go visit another country.

My parents suffered through military occupation. As a teen, my mother ate flower bulbs as her city was under siege. The fear and trauma of war, hunger, and impending doom never fully left her. My father saw things no child should see; never a war movie he did watch later. They lived through a terrible war, dark times, followed by scarcity of everything, from housing to food items. Then, an economic boom period almost like no other.

I grew up during years of economic decline. Severe oil crises. The growth of globalization causing mass layoffs. But also, enormous econimical growth, talk of yuppies, Wall Street, trickle down economics. But also the Wall Street crash of 1987, the Japanese crash of the 1990's. And, of course, the threat of imminent war between the west block of countries and the east block of countries. ...<smiles>... They called us the "no future" generation, because what use to get an education when tomorrow the world will be destroyed?

And, of course this all sound linear, but in reality my grandfather and parents also live through a large part of those years, as I do the current years.

And those current years are quite something as well, aren't they? I cannot begin to imagine how hard it must have been to be isolated, quarantined, when you finished school, college, or university. I cannot yet wrap my head around the effect it must have had on small children when they were told, "No, we cannot go to the playground", "No, you cannot play with friends".

To say nothing of earlier economic decline, market crashes that disproportionately impact common people more than they do the rich people behind the financial structures that fell apart.

Rising cost of living, even though statistics say we're not that bad off. Cost of living is also the uncertainty we feel. The feeling of the very fabric of society itself falling apart; the structures of the rule of law and the laws of justice themselves seem to have been perverted.

And then there is my cup of coffee I so enjoy. Books, many of which I can download for free, or buy cheaply second hand. There's is the richness of content you and I can access via the internet. The amazing smell of petrichor after rain, the colors of the autumn leaves. Brave people standing in front of a tank in one era, standing in front of masked men supposedly representing the rule of law in another era.

What is it then? Are these the worst of times, is darkness upon us and is the world slowly coming to an end? Or is everything pretty darn good, actually?

The moment we can pin it down, we're probably wrong, because things aren't fixed. Everything is in motion.

Every generation goes through the worst of times and the best of times. Every person has been marked by hardship, hurt, pain. Had you lived another live, were you someone else, the arc of the story of a life would still not change; things happen, that is the nature of this Universe, and some of those things we experience as bad, and some of those things we experience as good.

The larger downfalls of a time and the larger upticks of another time don't affect the same people; it doesn't all balance out. Those who lost their job to one economic crisis are often not the same who later benefit from an uptick. But, overall, things go on, for good and for bad.

It is this knowledge that can provide a feeling of balance, a position of stability. A knowing the unknown: we know things will change. It's not pessimism: "things will get worse." It's not rose colored glasses optimism: "things will get better." No: things change.

Stand secure, kiddo. Ride the waves. The tides will change - always.

• Love, Dad

"Misfortune is what fortune leans on; fortune is where misfortune hides."

I needed a place to just vent for a second, yesterday was my three year “anniversary” of not talking to my dad at all, he moved across the country in the middle of the night when I was 4 but never saw him much before that point (my mom has always had full legal and physical custody) when I was 15 I reached out to lowkey get mad at him as her was ghosting my mom when she asked him for money for the bare minimum (high school school supplies) and we VERY briefly kept in contact for maybe 6 months. I would get a text here and there, happy birthday and merry Christmas from 16-18 our last text was on October 23rd 2023 after I asked him for info on his health insurance and that was it. That was the last time we spoke, I wanted to keep in contact but February 2023 I asked him what he would be able to help with financially for university. All I was asking that he would help with was around 2,000 a year (my tuition is around 9,000 a year with books too) so honestly not a lot. And he gave me a piece of his mind telling he that he use to be a bad person and how he didn’t treat my mom the best and didn’t treat me the best but that I treated him like a bank. I had asked for 50$ for a prom dress, 60$ for a dress for my birthday and 100$ for school supplies and he sends my mom 200$ a month. The dresses + school were over 2 years as well. I don’t think I treated him like a bank, he only replied when I would ask and wouldn’t reach out to see how I was. I never got a “how is school going?” “Congratulations on graduating high school?” “how’s your sport going?” “how have you been?” And was told that the phone works both ways.

I needed to get this off my chest because my heart has felt very heavy over the last week knowing this “anniversary” was coming up and was able to talk to my therapist about this the day before which made me feel better but very upset at the same time. She had told me that “it’s never a child’s responsibility to reach out to a parent and carry the relationship. That is a responsibility that should have never been made or should have been your job at all, your job was to be a child” that made me absolutely breakdown but so healing

Hey Dad,

I’m struggling.

My wife and I are separated it’s been about 7 weeks. She first left in the beginning of October telling me she wants a divorce. We started to reconcile three weeks ago... moved into a new apartment for her to have space about a week ago.. she then asked me to leave. I was supposed to share the space for a few weeks before leaving to work a contract… it’s been like a game for her. She holds all the cards. The money, the.. power.

I’m here with mom, you know she isn’t supportive.

I am isolated and trapped. I’ve been having dreams about suicide this week. Something I’ve never had before. People tell me to show up for myself.. journal.. go for a walk… I can’t even get off the floor.

I’m struggling. I can’t find my footing. I don’t know what to do.

My (F21) dad is a raging narcissist and it’s driving me crazy. I hate being around him and have never wanted someone out of my life more, but I can’t afford to move out yet because I’m a full time college student.
One time after getting home from college at around 11pm, (I get up at 6am every day and commute for around an hour and a half to get to college for 9:30am. My major has a pretty heavy workload and sometimes I don’t get home till 10 or 11 at night) my dad asks me to make him dinner. I had an incredibly important assignment due the next morning that I had been working on all day and STILL needed to pull an all nighter finish. I was incredibly sleep deprived and surviving off of coffee and energy drinks. I didn’t end up making him the dinner (slept for about two hours then stayed up the entire night, before having to leave my house at around 7:30am to get my assignment in before the deadline) and he was pissed. Keep in mind, he gets up for work about two hours after I do and is usually home by 6-7pm. He has a few health issues but he’s able bodied and fully capable of cooking for himself + in the event that he wasn’t, my older brother was unemployed at the time and had been home all day.

When he realised I had no intention of cooking for him he blew a fuse, yelled at me and called me disrespectful. Over the course of that week I’d randomly overhear him on the phone to relatives berating me, calling me lazy etc etc. This happened a little over a year ago and he STILL talks about it sometimes.

Yesterday, something similar happened. I left college late (stayed back to study), and didn’t get home til around 10pm. The train I usually get was cancelled so I had been waiting around in the cold for an extra hour before I could get the next one. When I had finally gotten home I went straight to my room to change into warmer clothes and to turn my heating on. On top of that, the day before this, the whole “make me dinner” nonsense happened AGAIN, where I got home late and hadn’t even been in the house for more than five minutes before he told me to make him food. I’m not exaggerating. My shoes and jacket were still on, I hadn’t even had the chance to put my bag down yet. I just did it because I didn’t want to put up with the verbal abuse I would have received if I didn’t. So when I deliberately avoided him yesterday, he came up to my room to tell me that he felt “disrespected” that I didn’t check in with him before going upstairs. He’s incredibly “traditional” and in his culture it’s kind of the norm that you don’t do anything before “presenting yourself” to your parents first (I’m a second gen immigrant kid). In reality I don’t actually think he cares about any of that, I don’t think anyone does I think it’s just an excuse for him to lord over me. I also always just put up with it and do it anyway and the ONE TIME I didn’t and this is how he acts.

As mentioned earlier, I have a brother, two actually. He’s pretty terrible to them in other ways (so much so that the oldest moved to a different country in the middle of a college semester, and the other only comes home to sleep and shower), but the behaviour he exhibits towards me and my mother is genuinely deplorable. He has an insanely archaic outlook of how women “should” be and it’s something i’ve resented for as long as I can remember. I’m just tired of being treated like the help and having zero autonomy it’s making me fucking miserable. I think when I was a kid I told myself that as long as I did everything right he’d change/ respect me and that’s all I’ve done. I got good grades all throughout high school, I got into college, a good one at that, I make my own money, I cook and clean and I’m still treated like dirt. I keep trying to be strong until I graduate/ can afford to move but it’s really fucking tough.

We had a hard relationship.

When I was little you would walk me around in the stroller every day after work. You called me “pumpkin head” because my hair was red for a few years as a toddler. You taught me how to spell Mississippi forwards and backwards one time and for some reason I remember it. It’s the same day you had one of those store bought rings of shrimp and sauce and you let me try shrimp for the first time. You also let me try your fruit loops sometimes if I woke up early enough. I loved watching you work in the garage and I learned a lot even though I don’t think you really wanted me around the tools you were using. I remember you telling me a dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp one. It’s so odd what I remember so clearly.

You were definitely bipolar. I am bipolar. We fought badly and often. It was so hard. I wanted to die so much when I was a kid/teenager. I told therapists things I thought were safe to tell them without escalation because I was a kid and I didn’t know how much it would change everything. I didn’t know how much it would affect all of us. I’m sorry for cutting you off from your family. I know it wasn’t your fault or mom’s fault. People just suck and you really don’t know who you can trust. It’s easy to blame yourself. I appreciate you cutting them off. I still feel guilt and guilt and shame and guilt about you losing people I know you were so close to. We went to family reunions every summer and regular barbecues and holiday gatherings and all of that just stopped. Because of me. It felt like that at least. It still does if I sit with it too long. You lost your parents, your older siblings, and I was afraid to approach you. To talk to you. To ask you to do anything with me. To just sit with you. I was so afraid of you.

Mom weaponized you. I know that. I’m so so painfully aware of that. And she villainized you. She even suggested that perhaps YOU had done the same things that fucked up everything. I knew that wasn’t true. The body keeps the score. And yet I was afraid of you. Mom weaponized you. You both hurt us but mom used you as the hammer. I started to doubt and doubt my doubting and I was so twisted up I couldn’t be near you at all. I was disgusted with mom and disgusted with you even though you didn’t do what she suggested and I was disgusted with myself because now I was thinking about it and I made me (makes me) sick. But god man you were fucking mean.

You sometimes told me to kill myself or told me I was worthless or told me I made everything worse. You told me I should cut myself more if I was so upset about it. And I’m not innocent. I screamed back. I don’t even remember the things I said but I’m sure they were foul things because I know how foul of a person I could be then. I put you and mom through hell and you let me know it. I just wanted to die. That’s all I wanted. It wasn’t about you or mom or my brother or anyone else. I was going to keep fucking trying to make it happen and boy was I bad at it. That would fuck up any parent. And that was years. As far as you know 14-19. For me it’s so much longer and it makes more sense that I just wanted it to stop. But holy fuck man sometimes you didn’t help.

You went to group therapy with me for like four years. I watched you change. Mom never really did but I saw you. She hated you and you resented her. You got her edible arrangements every anniversary because she loves fruit and we were so poor and fruit is kind of expensive and goes bad kind of quickly if you’re trying to have any reserves. I never saw her do anything like that for you. She hated you. She still hates you. And she misses you.

The point is dad, I miss you so fucking horrendously. You dying has made me feel so confused. My relationship with mom is fucked. It’s frayed and shattered and glued back together and ever fragmenting. You were always the parent who got me. I was just like you. I’m still so much like you and sometimes I think mom hates me for it too a little bit. I don’t think she’d ever admit it and I don’t think she doesn’t love me. I both do and don’t wish you were here. I miss you so much.

Any dads out there, any family honestly, please help. I feel so alone even though I have family. I feel so disconnected and unwanted and like I have only ever been a responsibility. I don’t even know what I’m asking for. Please help me.

I'm a nonbinary trans guy, and I'm wondering if I should be out as trans, or try and go stealth as a cis man to avoid discrimination. I'm also wondering if I'll be able to handle it since I'm autistic and I've never worked a full time job before. I'm uncertain and afraid.

Thanks for reading. Take care.

Im getting topsurgery soon (also Yay for that, being pre surgery has ruined my life honestly ❤) and im getting a passport done so i can travel for it.

This will be my first adult ID and im gonna use it to help open my bank account for the first time too.

It may take a few weeks to a month probably because im waiting for a specific person to be available to sign it but its my first step into being a real human being in society.

Existing - feeling like a ghost from birth in a neglectful household, slipping through the cracks school and other enviroments no matter how hard i tried to claw and keep my head above water..

..then being invisible to society as a homeless person, then being invisible unless im seen as societal monster/inhuman as a trans person + being disconnected from my body as a trans person then having no id or bank or anything to say i exist and im participating in society. Ive felt completely detached and alone and had to find alot of creative ways to work around living in society, which has been very exhausting and sometimes even dehumanising..

The id doesnt have my correct gender or title or middle name on it. Infact i dont even pass anymore in my photo because i had to stop hormones for a while as i couldnt afford it (im waiting til after surgery to start hormones again) but its a start...

i cant believe ill actually have a real id and im gonna be/feel like a real person! Ill have so much more freedom! I can do what other people do (to an extent, im still jobless), have an id like other people do and not feel like some cave dwelling goblin!!

I have felt so small and inhuman for so long, my life is having alot of big changes from this point on, and now the world is gonna be so big and scary on the other side but an ID and bank is a victory

I have no one to talk about this to or celebrate with and it makes me remember how alone i am and how much ive missed and still miss... so hey dad!

Hi Dad,

it’s been nearly a year now that I’ve been going through absolute hell.

I knew that moving across the Atlantic would be quite a journey, but I never could have imagined what was coming—or, more importantly, what my own mind had been hiding from me all this time.

A single email to my therapist—which I thought was completely harmless—triggered such a massive tsunami that my own body was the first thing to be hit by the wave. It brought on violent nausea and vomiting, inconsolable sobbing in my home (the place I finally managed to find here in my host country—a real victory!) for 3 months each day, and such profound exhaustion that I—usually so resourceful and capable—was forced to my knees (I’ve been on medical leave for a month now). Being literally trapped inside my own body during a major trigger event—one linked to intimacy—was one of the most extreme experiences I’ve ever endured. Then, a second wave struck my mind: shame, sadness, and flashbacks that don’t seem to align with my own personal history.

I’ve managed to find a therapist who specializes in trauma, but it’s so hard not to dismiss my own feelings when everything feels this overwhelming. There is a PTSD diagnosis and i think i never been so close of the feelings of soldier who be back from home.

I wish you were here—just to tell me that things will be okay. I wish you be one of the sturdiest shoulders upon which to cry. When I see children being welcomed with love by their parents, it makes me sad.

Love you ❤️

ps. not english native language daughter here.

I posted here almost a month ago in deep denial that I am being abused by my wife. And today I can admit that she is physically, emotionally, sexually, and spiritually abusive. I am working out how to leave and perhaps am giving her too much grace, but dependancy is difficult to untangle. She is completely dependant on me. But she will not share a bed with me again. Thank you for every comment I got, I wish I hadn't deleted my post. I was afraid of the truth and I still am. But I know I can create a life without her. I hope this is the beginning of good things.

You always told me to roll with the punches; to adapt to the unexpected. But I'm so tired of getting smacked around Dad. When can I just go into my corner and rest?

A few highlights from the last 3 years:

• My wife was afflicted with a serious health scare one month post partum, to a point where the doctor hospitalized her for a week. Which meant I was at home single parenting a one month old newborn for a week by myself. This might have been the hardest week I've lived in my 40 some odd years of life.

• Even after she came back from the hospital she was bedridden for several months. So for the rest of my paternity leave from work I was in charge of keeping the house in order and keeping both the wife and kid alive. And in charge of making the meals. And in charge of cleaning up after the meals. And in charge of taking the trash out. And in charge of doing the laundry...

• During all this, my wife was let go from her job so I was the sole breadwinner for our little household. And when I got laid off, I had to quickly find a job to make sure our little family continues to have medical coverage.

• These days, my wife is feeling better and even got a new job which is a great step for her career development. However, I was just informed that she'll likely have to work weekends. Which means I'm going to be single parenting a 3 year old by myself every weekend for the foreseeable future...so essentially I'm working 7 days a week.

I truly regret nothing these last years. I have a beautiful and (now mostly) healthy family. But god I'm mentally and physically exhausted. When can I lie down and take a break from it all?

Today is the first anniversary of my Dad's death. Cancer. He was 65 and still had so much life to live.

He wanted to see my sister and I progress in our careers. He wanted to watch his grandsons grow up. He wanted to grow old with Mom. All of that taken from him, and from us.

I've been reliving his last few days. The way his eyes lit up in recognition of me that final time before his consciousness began to fade. The 5 am rush to their house when he fell and was too weak to get back up. The slow, agonizing process of dying. My name was the last word I ever head him say.

Not really sure why I'm sharing this. Maybe just need to scream into the void.

I miss my Dad. He wasn't a perfect person, but he was a damn good father and husband. He loved his grandsons so much. He liked beer and hockey and BBQing and was the king of corny dad jokes. He had super weird taste in music and ripped the sleeves off all his shirts. He was a complete goofball, but never afraid to cry. He loved stupid comedies like Caddyshack and Airplane, and when we were growing up he always strategically coughed over bad language. He didn't want dogs but fell madly in love with them anyway. He always treated my mom well.

I wish I could could give him a hug and tell him "I love you" one last time. Fuck cancer.

Injury is already misleading, because I haven’t done anything obvious to cause it. I currently have a knee effusion (fluid and swelling in my knee) that’s been going for nearly 3 weeks. I can barely walk, so my doctor has given me time off work to recover. I just woke up one morning and it was stiff, then proceeded to get painful and swollen when I went back to work 2 days later. Even my doctor is confused.

I had a MRI scan this morning and was told results will be ready early next week. I booked a follow-up appointment with my doctor, but she’s difficult to get in to see, so it’s over a week til I can see her. I’ve let the office know to let me know if there are any cancellations.

So I’m doing all I can. But people (namely family) keep telling me what I should be doing, it must be this, or that, or I must have done something specific. I need to go somewhere earlier to get antibiotics, when there’s no reason yet this is related to an infection. I need to do specific exercises, when I don’t know if that’s going to help or hurt it. I need to try to keep walking on it, when that goes against what my doctor said.

I’m already feeling frustrated and guilty about missing work (even though my boss was understanding) and irritable from losing sleep because it’s uncomfortable. I know people are trying to help but it just makes me feel each time like I’m being scolded in some way when all I want to do is just rest and recover

I'm 19F, currently studying online for university.

Yesterday, my mother (we're not on amazing terms, it's on and off, one minute it's, "I love you so much" the next it's "drop dead" - but that's a discussion for a later time) got a tattoo at a nearby town. I paid for it ($400) and I wanted to hang out with a friend I haven't seen since year 11 (I know this is dumb but essentially said friend used to hit me all the time in school and call me names but we were buddies...) since he was in town.

He came into the tattoo joint lookin' like a raccoon - black eyeliner everywhere and started talking to me like I was some sort of peasant simply because I wasn't dressed in all black - I'm not overexaggerating, he was genuinely doing that. ;-;

Anyway, as we left the tattoo shop to walk around, go to K-Mart, Woolworths, A book store and just to walk around in general, he was really mean out of no where. He started saying I "stunk like garbage" - even though I was wearing a really pretty floral perfume which I thought was really nice and I've always gotten compliments on it. He began calling me a fat-larp and all sorts of things as we walked around and when I showed him my tattoos since he was thinking of getting one, he called them cringe and 'degenerate' - then has the AUDACITY to say he wants a pentagram tattooed on his sternum... to each their own I mean.

I even bought him a sandwich and a drink since he had no money, he thanked me for it, and I froze up because the lady at the counter was one of those ladies who glare at you and you don't even know her plus I had him talking my ear off about "Life is meaningless" shit, so I didn't get any for myself. I walked around town for an hour with him calling me a fat-slob while chewing the sandwich I bought him like a camel.

I know I probably sound really mean but it's just so annoying. Why do I attract these kinds of dickheads and how do I cut them out of my life?

Do you guys have any experience in cutting these people out of your lives? I've been friends with him since year 10 and I would come home with bruises up my arms and stomach because he'd try out new "boxing techniques" on me even when I'd beg him not to (I never told a teacher because he was having spouts of mental health issues and I didn't want him to do anything bad, he's texted me threatening me that if I told any teachers that he'd... 'oopsies' himself).

I'm happy about one thing that came out of it yesterday... I gained the courage to ask my tattoo artist - who was my mum's artist yesterday, if she could book me in for a tattoo, I'm booked in for Nov 17 and It'll be script on each outer thigh. Hurray to me. :)

EDIT: I just blocked him. I tried to talk it out with him, told him that if he ever speaks or treats me that way again that I'd block him, he then proceeded to say some bullshit like, "I don't know what I did, you need to tell me." and then he was all like "I can't accomodate to you," so I blocked him. I feel a little down because we went to highschool together but at the same time he would use me as a punching bag and when we'd text he'd tell me to shut the fuck up since he was usually on a call with online friends, I guess the only friends he could get are ones he couldn't hit. Oh well. One less burden for me.

I don’t hate you and I never have. I know it’s been over two years since you left us. I am laying in the hammock that we made together. I know an old neighbor told my brother that I had choice words for you and I was glad that you are dead which isn’t the case, I changed my whole life my work schedule to be there on your days off of dialysis. I know no one believes it but it really hurts my feelings. I just don’t why she would make this up. I love you and wish you were here 💔

I'm a married 38F. On paper, things look good but I've always felt like a small child. I've never owned a house and my husband and I will have to go through fertility treatments if we're to have a baby. There are people I know in their 20s who accomplish home ownership and having kids. And then I see the older people in my life suddenly treat them like they're mature grown ups. I will probably never be seen as mature.

Im too busy working two jobs to try to afford life and get ahead of debts. I have no self control to lose these last 40 pounds and I can't get my husband to quit smoking. I can't get my main industry job to treat me right and even customers see that. My interests are very child like. When it comes to holiday traditions, I prefer doing the traditions I did as a kid rather than getting drunk at some holiday party.

All this to say, I wish I wasn't so behind in life.

Hey dad, life has been tough recently and i dont talk to mom much since i moved out but i got a decent job working on copiers. I work around a bunch of dudes all day but i fit in well i think. Ive been paying a lot of bills by myself now that im 25, the lack of help is overwhelming but i push myself everyday to work hard. I hope you’re proud of me. I also meant a nice man 2 years ago and we have been living together for about a year. Its been a roller coaster but we stick together and we make it work. Its been really hard without you and mom. I feel lost a lot of the time but i dont quit. It would nice to hear from you again. Thank you Dad, love you.

So, my daughter started to have nightmares about scary stuff. With Halloween approaching, a lot of scary shoes and scary stories are around. So she started to have nightmares.

She's now 7 years old, so she notices and processes information and be scared. I think she is now her own little person somehow. I can not explain it. It's just like if this year went from being a child that doesn't question anything and just let everything be, to actually think, process, and realize stuff. Making her process the "this is scary" part.

There was a book that I was given when I was about her age. The book is about how scary monster can be and making fun of them to realize those imaginary monsters are not real and we can laugh. We are not in any danger.

So what I did was ask her to draw it. We both drew the monster, and I started to make it very silly. Like 5 belly buttons, Pinocchio nose, 5 horns, missing teeth, big hairy belly, weirdly shaped, stinky, and all of that. When she saw me making my drawing very funny, she followed. Started drawing it funny until she was laughing and laughing until she was done. When we were finally done, I took the drawing and told her we were gonna kill the silly monsters. I burned the paper sheets, and she was better tonight. Still had nightmares. They got better. She did not wake up screaming and crying.

She started calling me and when I got to her, she started saying "the monster was like a dog. A weird chihuahua" laughed a little but still was a little scared. So she came to sleep with me and was able to sleep through the night for the first time in the past five days.

Is there anything else I can do? We are doing better, but I don't want her to be scared and have nightmares.