We were zipping along to our next meeting with an agency, the taxi precariously weaving through traffic, me precisely applying lipstick when my colleague quipped, “Your house can be on fire and you’ll still have lipstick on, right?” I laughed. It was true. That glossy red tube was my finishing touch—polish, perfection, and a mask […]
What It Means To Be A Glass Child at 50
Lately, there’s been some public recognition of “well” siblings like me. I read Isabelle Lee’s recent reflections in The Straits Times and CNA—written by someone much younger, and in a different situation. Her words struck a chord. Not just because they were honest but because they were familiar. Isabelle’s story reminded me of my own: […]
How Do You Know If You’re A Glass Child
If your sibling has a high need, does that automatically make you a Glass Child? No, it does not. If your sibling develops an illness during your adulthood, does that make you a Glass Child. No, it does not. If your parent has an illness or issues such as addiction that you had to grow […]
I Met My Younger Self for Coffee.
This is inspired by a recent TikTok trend. Honestly, I was delaying jumping on the TT bandwagon but now that I am working on getting my book published, and have learned that the platform is apparently beneficial to authors (let’s see about my experience), I finally joined last week. I’m @lifeofyasmeenhc, same as on IG. […]
The Glass Child—Ah, I See, That’s Me.
Who is a Glass Child? I’ve written about being the Invisible Child, the Well Sibling, growing up in the shadow of my brother’s schizophrenia but I had never heard of the term “the glass child” before. Until 2023 when I started writing my memoir and searched online for stories about being the well sibling (also […]
Siblings of High Needs Children: Update on the Book.
I’ve done it. My book about growing up as the well sibling of a high needs child is completed. Well, not really. It’s in the hands of beta readers and even as I await their feedback, I’ve already got ideas on how to improve sections of the book. So, I’ll have a few more rounds […]
World Mental Health Day 2024, You Might Just Be Proud Of Me.
Oh boy, and it’s October just like that. And it’s World Mental Health Day today. So Happy WMHD to you, and I hope you can find a little time today to breathe and do something nice for yourself. I’m not doing much for this year’s WMHD, normally I’d pick a topic to write up for […]
Talk about a dramatic start to the year!
It’s been less than a month into the new year and so much has already happened. I’m re-reading my 2023 recap now and once again, I am struck by the irony of it all. When I said that “I was concerned about the other shoe dropping”, gosh, I certainly didn’t realise it would be my […]
A Quick Note About The Radio Silence…
I have been totally slacking on writing articles for my blog, haven’t I? My last post, Will I Ever Be Okay, was on April 3rd?! Well, it’s only because I had decided, this year, that my writing focus would be on that book I have been meaning to write for the past few years, but […]
Will I Ever Be Okay?
I don’t know if I will ever be “okay”. Well, as far as society’s definition of what “okay” means, I guess. Does okay mean never feeling down, lost, hopeless? Does okay mean living a life of perfect equilibrium, knowing that there will always be ups and downs? The downs, the sadness that I am talking […]