Oh Candybear, you deserve more than a little respect -- you sounds as though you have used your strengths to follow and achieve your dreams, in spite of people from the past who tried to make you doubt yourself. Don't let them -- their comments were a reflection of their own issues and were about a you who was a long time ago, not the you that you've become as a mother, a writer, a woman, etc. Sometimes we give such power to comments like that, they stay in our head and we let them continue to define us, or hold us back, or use up our energy, even though they surely aren't worth it.

The same from the woman you're now dealing with . . . sounds as though you're dealing with someone who's either jealous or someone who is so insecure that she needs to put everyone else down in order to feel good about herself. Makes you wonder how much her respect would be worth anyway. That you're realizing this, that you know that she's full of it is just one more reason you should respect yourself and in the long run, our self-respect matters more than anyone else's.

Good for you!!

Love some of the responses offered here . . . what a wise and funny group!