My Friend Let Me Be Quiet

Dear Delyara, I was not particularly good company today. I was quieter than usual. Slower. Less conversational. Less able to perform lightness. And my friend didn’t make a thing of it. She didn’t ask, “What’s wrong?” every ten minutes. She didn’t try to force me back into brightness. She didn’t take it personally. She just stayed. I can’t explain how healing it is to be allowed to be temporarily dim without being treated like a problem.