Please re-write this sentence from my story I wrote (give it better action verbs): "I could not help but feel sadness but was not really feeling all that sad, like perhaps if things were different and we had a more normal relationship, I could grieve for my mother like I had seen so many others do. "
I could not help but feel dejected, perhaps if things were different and we had a habitual relationship, I could grieve for my mother like I had witnessed of multitude.
