By saying something that I've been wanting to say for a long time...

We were emailing back and forth today and at one point she stated how proud her and my dad are of me and "the woman I have become"- which was great to hear! And I told her so... but then I added that sometimes I worry that they don't understand me and think my husband and I are "radicals" so that it was nice to hear that they are proud and think I'm a great person. I guess I maybe shouldn't have used the word radical, but that IS how I sometimes feel. I work in non-profit doing community building and combating racisim, sexism and all the other "isms" in my free time, and sometimes when I try to talk to them about these issues, we don't see eye to eye and I feel like they think I'm a freak. Anyways, that's what I was trying to say but after that email, she didn't really respond. At the end of the day, I even sent a follow-up email saying that I hope I didn't offend her and that I just meant that it was nice to hear. But I think that she may have already left work...

I think it's the anxiety that makes me feel crazy if I don't get a response from someone and makes me tempted to call and ask, "are you mad at me?" like a 5 year old. Chances are she just got busy at work and then left. Either way, I should not feel bad, right?

I will be seeing them tomorrow for a party and now I'm even more anxious about it than usual... Advice? Insights? Suggestions? Similar stories?

Thanks for listening.