I still remember being in eighth grade, just a tiny thing, getting admitted to the hospital. I was young, but I’d overheard the grown-ups whispering about suspected cancer and the looming possibility of surgery. When I broke the news to my homeroom teacher that I’d be out sick, she gave me this cold, lingering stare. Then, out of nowhere, she launched into a grim tale about a girl from one of her past classes. Said the girl looked just like me, got struck down by cancer, strutted into school bald as a cue ball, and then—bam—dropped dead. To this day, I can’t wrap my head around why that grown-ass woman thought it was fine to dump such a gut-punch of a story on a kid like me.
#trauma #insensitive #childhoodmemories #wtf