They say, "Family is everything" and I just nod. Because they don't know what it feels like to stand in a room full of people who share your blood but not your bond. It feels like the devil missed his shot, so he punished me another way, by making sure I'd never fit into the family I was born into. I learned to smile at the dinners, laugh at the jokes, act like I belonged, but inside, I'm always on the outside looking in. They think I'm distant. They think I don't care. But they don't see how heavy it feels to be lonely in a place that's supposed to feel like home. I don't tell them any of this. Some pain is easier to swallow than explain.