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wordyshipmate82 t1_j68jxmi wrote

The fact that she can love her parents after everything they did to her is pretty amazing, and perhaps connected to the fact that she was able to write about it.

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Always_A_Unicorn t1_j69j29h wrote

I read an article that the author’s mom actually lives with her to this day! She has her own room on her property and still hoards garbage… :(

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Avaunt OP t1_j69zl5f wrote

The author’s caretaker streak seems to be an interesting effect of her childhood. She cared for her family and her mom then and continues to do so.

I wish I could understand her mother a little better though. Jeanette shares a lot of positive stories about her father that display both sides of him, but most of her mothers interactions seem either self serving or completely off the wall. There’s a streak of narcissism, but it has to be more than that. Hoarding explains her inability to let things go. Bipolar possibly explains the swings in mood and lack of touch with reality. I don’t know. Just wish I could understand her.

If you look the author up on YouTube, there are a couple videos that have her mom in them and some of her paintings. It brings a new perspective on the futility of her aspirations towards art. They aren’t bad exactly, but also aren’t anything spectacular. If she had any ability to balance, the mom should have been able to work a job and paint as a hobby to make her happy. But that’s a rational brain speaking.

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fdxrobot t1_j6akocc wrote

It’s more lacking compassion that’s speaking. You don’t hoard because you aren’t able to let things go, people hoard because they lost something tremendous and try to fill the void.

People with significant mental illness struggle to hold traditional jobs. Her mother is mentally I’ll and self-serving. Giving birth didn’t change that.

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