“Smells Like Teen Spirit……”
Or does it??
On that fateful day in November 2012, when for a moment time stood still and my blood ran cold, I was shocked back to living.
Totally oblivious to anyone else’s pain I was going through life, happy and content. Sure Mimes had got a bit skinnier, a LOT skinnier and I was concerned and had a chat to my nutritionist friend. Could she be anorexic? We would keep an eye on her.
The move to Singapore had been a big one for her and not an easy one.
I remember the little letter she slipped under our door after we had just told the kids we were moving. It read,
“Thanks for ruining my life”.
It was direct, to the point and very apt.
We were concerned how this move would play out for the children and can I blame depression on the move only? Surely this was going to be the best move for everyone. New experiences, broadening their horizons how could it be anything but brilliant.
But for one little girl it was perceived differently.
Now she was different.
The girl who moved to Singapore.
The little girl who had been at the same little school in Melbourne with the same little group of girls since she was 5, was now moving to a foreign country and was thrown into year 8 with 180 other kids, none of whom she knew. Boys and girls. From all walks of life.
Not one familiar face.
It probably happened almost immediately but the signs didn’t start to show for a few years. The disinterest in food, the disinterest in going out.
She had lost that loving feeling and I now know why I had experienced my own battle with depression.
It was so I could recognise hers.