Dear Myself,

I was starved out of a loving family. Getting jealous when my friends had parents who genuinely cared about them. My parents just told me to figure it out. It got harder as I grew up. Relationships and friendships felt like tools for my survival. I met a woman that I want to genuinely marry, but my childhood still haunts my soul. Like a creeping monster in the back of my mind. Lingering inside and taking up all the empathy. I can't understand how people feel. All I see are the numbers, never the tears.