I LOVE this. Thank you for sharing. Yes, I wonder if I will ever get over the frustration of being sidelined in this way. It happens constantly — even my well-intentioned nieces do it. I can say I’m happy — hell, people can even witness my happiness — and yet they always say, “But you don’t know what you’re missing.” It’s literally an insistence that I cannot possibly be happy without being “normal” (as my nieces call it). There’s really no point in trying to change their minds.