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.