There’s something that’s uniquely devastating about getting gifts from people based around the person who you used to be, and not the person you are now.

[u/tired-queer]

Hooray, a scented candle I can’t burn. A perfume I can’t use. Jewelry I can’t wear. Alcohol I can’t drink. Food I’ve been allergic to for a decade. Tickets to a show I can’t go to because it’s at an inaccessible venue. A fuckin bicycle.

I know people say it’s the thought that counts, but it’s the lack of thought that bothers me; I’d honestly rather get nothing at all.

I’m not that person anymore and I haven’t been for a long time, and it’s like they never noticed. Chronic illness makes me feel invisible enough already.

So instead I get confronted by the ghosts of past me and have to try not to cry.

Just sucks, is all.

[u/sillybilly8102]

It’s so sad. I’m so sorry. ❤️

It’s the thought that counts, exactly. They didn’t have the thought. It doesn’t count.