Granite, I have the same reaction when I read anything about mothers & daughters. When I read (or watch on TV or observe in RL) a mother being kind to her daughter, teaching her things, loving her-- I absolutely lose it! It feels like my insides are going to twist into a big knot and then explode! I can't even watch a TV show with a loving mother & daughter without wanting to cry and just feeling sick inside that I can never know what it's like to have that. My biological mother (I can't call her "my mother" because she was not a mother to me)-- she played no role whatsoever in raising me. She did not change one diaper, fill one bottle, cook one meal, nothing. Instead, I was raised by a nanny who abused me every day. My bi mom has said maybe a handful of words to me my entire life. They consist primarily of: "I wish you were never born, you ugly pig. If your father hadn't wanted you, you wouldn't be here." I can COMPLETELY relate to not knowing how to do totally basic things, because I also was never taught. Do you know who had to explain to me what my period was and buy me my first box of tampons? My grandfather! I was 11 and had to have my 70 year old grandfather explain to me why I was bleeding "down there!" When I read stuff about how mothers teach these things to their daughters, I go absolutely ballistic!!! My T knows all this about me-- but still, when she tells me that she plays scrabble with her 11-year-old daughter, it feels like someone is stabbing a knife through my heart. I can't even fathom how incredible that would be-- to have ONE memory of ever doing something like that with a mom-like-person who actually cared about me? It boggles the mind that others know what that's like!!!