The story of how a kind nurse’s words saved my life. It’s a busy night in the ER. Squalling babies are comforted by weary parents, toddlers are unusually still as they cuddle in laps, iPads propped up with muted cartoons. Older patients doze off in wheelchairs. A young girl sporting…

When my whole adult life has been an eating disorder, how do I tackle obesity and weight loss in a healthy way? — TW: Eating disorders “Please don’t be 100.” I’m in my ensuite, naked as the day I was born. The scales taunt me on the floor before my bare feet. I am whispering under my breath, not sure if I’m praying or pleading with myself. As if 100 is the breaking…

A neurodivergent girl’s journey to finding her chosen family. — Masking I was in Kindergarten when I decided that the other kids must have some secret socialising rulebook. Perhaps I had missed the orientation for life where God handed out copies of David Carnegie’s self-help book “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” While I didn’t know about David Carnegie at…

I loved childhood games until they were twisted into abuse — TW: child sexual abuse. I’m 9 years old when I meet the man and his son for the first time. They come to our house and mum and the man have a chat over a cuppa. The boy comes to play with us in my sisters’ room. …

Hint: It wasn’t how to express emotions in a healthy way. — Content Warning: Self harm and brief mention of sexual abuse Today has been a hard day. I’ve been overwhelmed and frustrated with no time for my preferred emotional outlet. Only now once the house is quiet do I find the time to write. Writing calms me. I feel my pain…

After the divorce I learned that money is everything (and we had none). — Six “What number do you want to pick?” I’m eight years old, at baseball semi-finals with my family. It’s round robin but I don’t really know what that means. Aunties, uncles, cousins, grandparents, siblings, Mum. It’s not Dad’s weekend with us. My Auntie is entering a fundraiser game. You have to…

They told Me They Had to Close the Case Against My Childhood Abuser — TW: Mention of sexual abuse against a child. Today, the police came to my door. They told me they had to close the case against the man who sexually abused me as a child due to lack of evidence. Everything hits me at once. Family Court I’m 9 years old. I’m at…

My wife and I thought our biggest obstacle to having a family was the fact that we both had ovaries. As we did more research, we realised that it was actually the mounting cost of IVF and the probability of it taking more than one cycle. I met the woman…