@brandysparks it wasn't until much later in life, as an adult, that I was able to distance myself and look at how we were as a family. My mother was a pretty unhappy person. To the outside she was a dynamite, with worthy causes she believed in/campaigned for. Never once did I ever hear her tell me she loved me. As a teenager in high school, a friend of hers understood there was a lot of strain and friction, and took me under her wing, showing me positive attention. There have been a few times one sibling and I have spoken about how the household was growing up, compared notes, and concluded how our mother's insecurities and instabilities affected things. Even our father said, after her death, that he understood there were issues but it was not something he could successfully address.
Ginger