BethRags, I'm so sorry your daughter is being mean about your problem. Does she not understand mental illness?

Thank you, Trav. I appreciate your kindness. My daughter is on meds for depression/anxiety...seems she would understand. The whole estrangement is entirely confusing, as my husband and I certainly did not raise her to be narrow-minded. But...her husband has some strange ideas, so...

It seems even more of a blessing when our adult children are doing well. I am trying to have a life without mine, keeping as busy as I can, traveling, and having my own friends. I try not to push myself on them--and wait for them to contact me. Our second son calls fairly often , but as I've written before, our first son never calls. It's probably best that we don't live too close to each other, so I'm not tempted to "correct" things about their lives.

Am I wrong in worrying about mothers who say they live for their children? Don't mothers need their own lives?

I did live for them, and battled my way through hellacious empty nest that caused my mental health to degrade dramatically. Just this year I am finally seeing with clear vision that it's time to have my own life.