I Wanted Someone to Notice I Was Trying Very Hard

Dear Delyara, I wanted somebody to look at me and see the effort. The effort in my voice, in my restraint, in my cooking dinner while fighting tears, in my patience with homework, in my body still standing upright by 9 p.m., in the way I kept the room safe for everyone else even when I was not safe from myself. No one said anything. No one is cruel. They just didn’t know. But I knew. And tonight I felt the full loneliness of being the only witness to how hard I’m trying.