Hi everyone.

I've been a bit depressed since Mother's Day and I figured out why. It's because my first memory of my mother is of her passed out drunk on the couch. (My father drank too but he is "functional.") My mother abandoned me to drink when I was a toddler and still I'm supposed to pretend she was this "amazing" mother one day a year and it's tough.

Picking out cards was difficult because none of the messages was true. My therapist suggested that next year I just get her a blank card and wish her a Happy Mothers Day in it and tell her in it I love her, which I do despite everything. That way I don't have to include any compliments. I like that idea.

She drank in secret during the day when my father was at work and would sober up in time when he got home. Only myself and a couple of cousins know about this because she got drunk one night 15 years ago and admitted it to them. So, it's a bit secret in my family that no one will talk about.

It's tough on a person to have to carry around family secrets.

Thanks for reading. Hope everyone is hanging in there.

--Ceara