5 Comments
User's avatar
MaryJane's avatar

Thank you so much for including my backpack story in your list of recommendations! I also had a complicated relationship with my mother and her gift-giving. She once made me a “dancing dress“ that was so far from anything I would ever have worn that I refused to even try it on. I saw how much that hurt her. It’s kind of you to wear the bracelet.

Dianne Moritz's avatar

Isn't it strange how some people may ask what we'd like for Christmas, a birthday, ignore our response, then offer something we don't want, like, or need?

One Christmas my mother gave me towels! I was incensed, which of course, masked the deep hurt I felt. It seems so unfair that our own mothers don't attempt to know us better.....

Lisa Cottrell's avatar

Not being understood by one's own mother is hard. I know it well. This is beautiful rendering of that particular pain. Thank you for sharing it.

Tracey Edelist, PhD's avatar

The pain of not being understood or accepted by a family member, especially a mother, is so clear in this short, relatable piece.

sallie reynolds's avatar

How painful it is to have someone powerful in your life who wants to change you.