Thanks, Paisley.

I loved my mother. Of course I did. She made plenty of sacrifices to be a mother, and it's not like she locked me in a closet, or starved and beat me. And yet...there was real damage. Even when I chose to divorce my husband, her first response was, "are you sure you are prepared to be alone for the rest of your life?"

I mean...what?

I know that lots of people don't understand that there are many, many levels of cruelty, and we can still care about people even as they mistreat us. Shedding light on it is just part of the healing process.

Hope you're well. And thanks for writing.