Caring is literally gambling with your friendships, sigh.

I just reached out to a friend to warn them about the CDC report on bird flu, how it’s been spreading to cats, infecting humans, and killing the cats (or only one?) who caught it. I’m terrified I might lose this friend, who means so much to me.

I’ve kept quiet about COVID, the ongoing pandemic, necessary mitigations, and even the rise of fascism, because this friend lost their sibling during the pandemic. The trauma of it made them distance themselves from everything related to it. They have so little support from people who truly care and understand, so they shut it all out. I never wanted to be another weight on their shoulders.

But I also know that their cat has been one of the only things keeping them going. And knowing that, I couldn’t stay silent. I had to warn them. And now I’m afraid they might pull away from me even more.

I’m so sick and tired of being the messenger of bad news. It’s exhausting to always be the one ringing the alarm, only to lose people... your family, friends every time I speak up.

Wish me luck, my message has been left on "read" 😂 for now.