Growing up, I never understood why family gatherings felt like navigating a minefield of unspoken emotions. There was always this underlying tension, a disconnect that made me feel like an outsider in my own family. I remember sitting at holiday dinners, watching the carefully constructed facades, feeling the weight of unresolved trauma and unexpressed pain. For years, I carried the silent hurt of not being truly seen or understood. The inner child in me longed for genuine connection, for…
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