I do not think anyone should get to decide, quietly and on my behalf, whether I am allowed to grieve. That is what this has come down to for me. My grandad died on Tuesday, and I was not told. I found out without the basic courtesy that most people would expect from family. Now I am left asking the next painful question: will I be told about my grandad’s funeral? Part of me already thinks I know the answer. If I was not told he had died, why would I suddenly be told when the

Sometimes the smallest online detail can hit harder than a direct argument. A friend request that never comes. A name appearing in a mutual friend list. A profile quietly becoming visible again. Someone deleting you without saying a word. On its own, it might seem petty or easy to brush off. But when it sits on top of years of awkwardness, rejection, silence, and things said behind closed doors, it stops feeling small. Before I get into it, I know it has been a while since my

No seventeen-year-old should have to give up education because the adults and systems around them fail to provide what they are meant to provide. Work can build character. Work can teach discipline. Work can even rescue you when everything else falls apart. But there is a big difference between choosing work and being pushed into it because the money is not there. In my previous post, I spoke about having to leave education and start working at McDonalds. That did not last lo

Moving to a new city can be a fresh start, full of promise and new friendships. But sometimes, it also brings unexpected challenges, especially when it comes to matters of the heart. When I moved to London , living on a military estate in the northwest, near Harrow, I quickly found a friend who became my world. Yet, that friendship soon turned into my first experience of love and rejection, shaping how I saw myself and the city around me. A quiet London tube station platform