In Honor of Mental Health Awareness Month 2024 Collection

I Almost Didn’t Go… But When I Did, I Showed Up Disheveled

How to create courage when you can’t find it

I lay on the living room floor where I had been sleeping for some weeks now, hesitating for just a few moments more, unsure whether or not I would go to the party.

I knew how much it meant to go, yet I hadn’t been planning well for social gatherings lately.

I threw on the same clothes I had worn the day before and headed out the door.

At the party, not one adult treated me differently. I was greeted with smiles and hugs, and most importantly, by the birthday boy himself.

He threw himself into my arms after he waddled towards me, and I made sure not to fail him. I didn’t know he knew who I was, even though we had spent a lot of time together. I guess I needed to read more about babies.

I heard everyone else around us chanting in unison, “Awwwwwww..."

So, while I stood there in mix-matched clothing and basically disheveled, at that moment, I was glad I came. It didn’t matter what anyone thought of me; the only thing that mattered was that I got to hold the birthday boy and see his little face on his…