To Dotsie...Yes, I call my mom every couple of weeks to catch up on things.

To LSmith.....my relationship with my mom is good, so no reason to be sad for me. I am a great person regardless of my stuff with her.

The saddest part of it all is how she was raised. Her mom abused alcohol and gave birth to my mother very late in her life (12 years after her first two). My grandma and her husband would leave my mom in the car while they went to bars to drink. I know there is a lot more that happened that she has chosen not to share with me.

I know she did the best she could to raise me and my younger sister while having my Dad as her unsupportive husband. We had a good life....better than most, I'm sure. There are regrets, though. Since I'm older, I understand more of why things happened the way they did.

My mom wasn't "equipped" with the necessary tools by her mother and therefore didn't have much to go by with us.

Blah Blah

Like I said originally, I wish my mom could show more compassion towards me. Really focus on my feelings when I'm down and need advice....like June Cleaver would have.
Instead, she's very protective and defensive of herself and blames herself for my issues?

I work very hard to love her for who she is AND for who she's not. To me, it seems like it shouldn't be this much work?

Maybe like marriage, it is a lot of work?