by Matt Baume • Jul 14, 2021 at 3:45 pm I can pinpoint the moment, at the age of seven, when I acquired my neurotic fear of abandonment: It was after a summer school class, when I was returned to the parent pick-up area in the high school cafeteria and I could not, for a few minutes, locate my family. It had never occurred to me that I might have to fend for myself, and I clearly remember the shock of realizing that I might exist, at times, as an individual, rather than a cog in a collective familial machine and that it is possible for a person to find themselves completely unexpectedly alone.