Dear sunrise,

I am impressed, very impressed, that your mom, even at this late date, recognizes what she did way back then, and that it was wrong. I don't know that most PC members ever get that kind of acknowledgment. I certainly didn't, and, of course, both my parents are long gone. It would seem to me that underneath your mom's frightening and cruel reactions to you when you were tiny, there was a feeling, understanding person. Or at least that she became so later and was able to understand what she had blotted out years before. I don't know that most people here with childhood problems similar to yours had parents who would be able to grow that much with passing years. I'm glad that you were able to hear these kinds of things from your own mom and dad. Take care.