…passed judgement on me solely by what my ex-mum was feeding into her head, but it was another to find that my dad was there & going along with it.

the time & setting was vague, but elements of where i grew up were there, as was me starting the last car i ever owned (which i last drove in ’01), and what appeared to be my late grandmum's home where i lived during high school. yet somehow, i was an adult, aged probably close to where i am now, & my social expectations of these cis folks were what i'd expect for 2017: disappointment.

altho i gave up on blood family years ago, dreams like this still twist the knife of abandonment hard