I can definitely relate to your coping mechanism Rodney. Closing our hearts and minds to alleviate pain is a normal reaction to anyone dealing with a crisis. I can identify with your experience. As a child, I grew up in a broken family. It was just my mother, my sister and myself. My mother was a hard worker, but uneducated and always had several jobs just to be able to provide for us. Needless to say, we moved around, a lot. I attended a different school every year of my childhood. This caused me to do as you did, not give others access to myself. My reasoning was similar to yours, if I just distanced myself and didn’t talk to anyone, or make any new friends, it would just be easier when the time came to leave. I wouldn’t have to
