I keep wanting to start a Facebook group
or sub Reddit
for other people who grew up with
atypical families
or who weren’t taught certain things
or missed out on certain rites of passage.
(My therapist taught me how to shave
without an electric razor
in my 20s.)

Because I keep running into situations
where I wonder
What is normal?
How much is enough to spend on Christmas gifts (maximum)?
How do you make friends after college?
How do you make coffee without a Keurig?
How can you tell if the relationship you’re in is abusive?
Does anyone else grieve their pet harder
than their deceased family members?
Does anyone else have road rage from an accident over a decade ago?
How do people live with physical pain
that may never go away?
Does grief become a huge part of your life
from midlife on
or has it been just a rough few years?

Google and YouTube don’t have all the answers,
can’t reassure the gnawing doubt
in the back of your mind,
can’t soothe the hurting child inside you.
Not like the wisdom of an open-hearted community of other wounded survivors.