Disenfranchised grief (grief that isn't socially recognized or validated) is one of the most isolating experiences there is. It's the grief that says, I don't know if I'm allowed to be this sad. It's the grief that apologizes for itself. It keeps people from accessing the support they need, from telling the story of who they lost, from being witnessed in their loss.

Most battles do not look like battles while we are inside them. They look like exhaustion, isolation, and people quietly struggling under the belief that they are failing alone.