Having dealt with depression doesn’t make it any easier to talk to someone else who’s depressed. If anything it’s harder because I already know all of the usual platitudes are worthless, leaving nothing to say at all.

I am also almost certain that Cameron is going to have some kind of mental illness to deal in the future given his family history. So while I feel like I can be properly empathetic, I have no idea what to actually say to a crying teenager who feels like the world is ending.

Or, as it turns out, a crying threenager.

Cameron got upset because he thought that Andrew was going to sleep on top of him while making the bed. It carried over into bedtime and there was a lot of “I’ll always feel like this, forever.” and similar lines that make you want to laugh and break your heart at the same time.

I’m 95% sure it was all made-up melodrama and bedtime stalling at this point, but it’s still important to me to acknowledge and respect all of his feelings. The other 5% is me wondering if the surgery is finally getting processed in his mind since his recovery has otherwise been almost too perfect.