Dear (((Liz)))! It’s so good to see that you are actively engaged in developing a full life for yourself, which I find to be the biggest challenge for anybody that has any kind of addiction. My life is kind of boring as I don’t accomplish much day after day, and I don’t seem to have the motivation to change that. One of my issues is that I don’t like going out after dark, which is what it is like here all winter, around 4 or 5 pm. I only like to socialize with friends occasionally. My 20 year old granddaughter is now living with me and she has 2 more months of university left this year. She was having interpersonal problems with a male roommate which were ongoing, so I suggested she move in with me and live rent free. We try and give each other space. She is dating a doctor in his residency, and he is working in Calgary for 3 weeks so she took the bus to go visit him. He lives in Edmonton so they have been seeing each other a lot since they met. I took my two little grandgirls to see the Lego Movie. They seemed to enjoy it, but I fell asleep because I thought the movie was boring. My mother seems to be improving very slowly. She is using a walker in her suite as she is very afraid of falling again. I call her more frequently now to see how she is. I know she really appreciated all I did for her while she was hospitalized. I haven’t had a good relationship with her for most of my life as she was not a good mother, and we were estranged for approximately 20 years where I had no contact with her. I have boundaries with her, and she knows that I will not tolerate any unsupportive or derogatory talk. That’s interesting that your mother would bring over a cake like nothing ever happened. That was the way Danny’s parents were: never acknowledging or apologizing for their awful behaviors, and choosing to sweep it under the rug, rather than admit they behaved badly. I’m not like that so it was hard for me to accept that. It doesn’t sound like your mother is the apologizing type, nor is there much hope that at her age, she is going to change. Maybe do what I do with Danny- I send him home when he behaves in a way I don’t like. Carole
