My aunt tells me on the phone she's HAD IT!
She is not going to help my mother no mo! Not checking her mail, not watching her house - NOTHING!
I'm not at all surprised. I've felt that way several, several times.
And I'm kinda relieved that my aunt is expressing this . . .this . . . frustration.
Long I've been aware my mom is 'off'-or as I say it; has an undiagnosed mental illness- and it is a world of difference being related, to her, like being a sister or brother, and being this person's child.
World.Of.Difference.
Among my siblings we have concurred that one of the strongest reasons we have any relationship with my mom right now is because of the love and respect we've had for our aunts and uncles. And I used to seek them out with questions and seeking answers and reasons - but more and more I found them asking me about mom.
And I understood that they didn't understand and that they still were running on an ideal relationship assumption - that blood is thicker than water.
*LIFE SPOILER ALERT*
Here's the deal folks - it's not. And at times where for my, and my own family's good, I've had to be what would seem cruel with my mother - I would get frustrated that my extended family didn't always understand this - couldn't see it, couldn't support me.
Now finally - in my dear aunts desperations I'm seeing her come to a point - I hope - of understanding.
It's different is all -
2 comments:
wow mich, that is heavy!!
it is hard to deal with mental illness. My mother was a paranoid schizophrenic and learning to grow up with that was difficult. She also suffered from depression and was a hoarder, mainly afraid of change.
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