I'm emotionally disconnected to both my parents. I have closer relationships with random acquaintances on Facebook than I have with my parents.

When I was in my early 20s, I bought a one-way ticket on a westbound plane and moved to a foreign country six time zones away, just so I could get away from them and start a new life on my own. I haven't seen my parents in five years time and I talk to them for 5-10 minutes over the phone once or twice a year.

I would be okay visiting and hanging out with them for a few days, but its not very high up on my priority list. Maybe I will get around to it in a few years.

I'm more upset about the emotional manipulation. Her forcing my silence was pretty much the start of me bottling up all my feelings and not being able to talk about things that bothers me. I have never been able to talk with my parents about my own emotional needs. I also came into adulthood completely unprepared on how to interact with other people outside the immediate family.

She was responsible for paying the bills and never kept my dad informed about their finances. He was often spending more money than they had because he didn't have clear picture of their financial situation. Instead of telling him the truth she raided the kids' savings accounts and manipulated us into silence.

I don't think she was weak for borrowing the money. My issue is how she went about doing it.

She's alive and well. I just don't want to talk with her ... about .... hmm ... anything.