You're watching a graduation video someone posted, and the camera finds a father in the stands. He's on his feet, crying, shouting his kid's name before it's even called. Everyone in the comments is happy. You're happy too, and somewhere underneath it there's an ache you can't explain, because nothing is wrong. What you're feeling is grief, and most people never use that word for themselves. This kind of grief is for things that never happened: a parent in the stands, a birthday somebody plan...

Grieving the Childhood You Didn't Get

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