July 15, 2018:

Graduation gowns and mortarboards.

The group I befriended are rightly giddy.

That's not me, though.

Pudgy, pear-shaped, fraying ponytail, pasty, face widening with weight.

Depression, catastrophe, exile, addiction, remorse, resentment.

Smiling false smiles. Pushing them all away, even the kind intelligent vibrant group I'd befriended without connection.