I am tired of having to build the whole bridge before tenderness can reach me

Dear Delyara, Context, explanation, history, emotional framing, careful language, reassurance that I’m not “too much” — sometimes it feels like tenderness has so many prerequisites in adult life that by the time I’ve built the bridge, I no longer have the energy to cross it. I miss immediacy. Not mind-reading. Just immediacy of warmth. I miss being met before I’ve fully translated myself.