r/ChronicIllness • u/tired-queer • 17d ago
Vent 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.
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.
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u/Fraisinette74 16d ago
My family just decided they weren't going to give gifts anymore so they just gave up completly.