I’m starting a fund raiser for my good friend, Here is her story:
There’s no easy way to say this, but here it goes.
I am broken — not beyond repair, but broken nonetheless.
A few years ago, I went through something so painful, so deeply traumatic, that it changed me. It stole my light, my joy, my strength — and left behind a silence I didn’t know how to fill. I fell into a deep depression that swallowed days, weeks, months. I stopped seeing friends. I stopped caring for myself. Some days, I could barely get out of bed.
One of the hardest parts to talk about is what it did to my body — specifically, my teeth. It may sound small to some, but to me, it’s everything. The neglect, the isolation, the hopelessness… it all showed in my smile. Or rather, in the absence of it. I stopped smiling. I stopped laughing. I started hiding my face in shame.
And now I’m in pain — real, physical pain that makes it hard to eat, to sleep, to simply exist some days. But what hurts even more is the emotional weight I carry every time I look in the mirror and don’t recognize the person staring back at me.
I need help. And that’s something I’ve been afraid to say out loud for a long time. But today, I’m choosing to speak — not from a place of pity, but from a place of hope.
I want to smile again. I want to heal. I want to feel like me again.
Every dollar donated will go toward dental consultations, treatment, and care — but more than that, it’s a piece of my future. A future where I can laugh without hiding my mouth. A future where I can take pictures again. A future where I can look in the mirror and see someone who survived.
If you’ve ever known what it’s like to feel invisible, to hurt in silence, to need help but not know how to ask — please hear me now. I’m asking.
Please help me get my smile — and my life — back.
With all my heart,
Anonymous In Agony