“I just listened to Melanie’s story, and I resonated with it so much! I have a mother who is also a nurse who was emotionally distant, so I can relate on so many levels to what Melanie was feeling. The part about grieving the mother you wanted but never got is something that really stuck out to me. I think I always wished, even as a child, for a different mother than the one that I had. Even in preschool, I asked my mom why she couldn’t be more like another mother of a student in my class, and I’d tell her I wanted that mommy. She used to laugh when she retold the story to me later in life (which is strange because I would think it would be hurtful), but I see that story a lot differently now. I am also a writer, so perhaps there is something about an emotionally distant mother that compels someone to write. I remember as a kid writing long letters about my feelings of frustration over things because I could not go to my mother with it. I would be silenced or my feelings would often be trivialized and I felt I had no other outlet than to write them down for myself. This podcast helped me immensely to sort through a lot of feelings. My mother and I are estranged now. But I can even relate to Melanie when she spoke about calling her mother twice a week. For a long time, I still had this hope things would change, even though a lot of that was unconscious. I realize now the emotional toll it takes on me is too great a price to pay, and although I love my mother, I can no longer have her in my life. Thank you for this podcast. I’ve been searching for a way to reconcile my childhood, and because of this podcast I’m going to look into grief work.”
L.A.Day via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
08/04/22