Rainbow, I was a preemie too, and a sick one at that.

I think my mom did the best she could but her affection was erratic, sometimes get-over-it Tiger Mom and sometimes she was super sentimental. Most of the time, affection in my family was ridiculed. I remember telling my mom about my first crush (a young Brittish acting college student who ran a summer theater workshop.) I was teased into utter humiliation. I felt like I couldn't share my feelings with her ever again.

It was hard--growing up I craved affection deeply but had to hide that neediness. Acting tough isn't really me anyways so it was an effort to keep it up.