Always_A_Unicorn t1_j69j29h wrote on January 28, 2023 at 6:50 PM

Reply to comment by wordyshipmate82 in I’m finish up reading “The Glass Castle”, and my blood is boiling. by Avaunt

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… :(

Avaunt OP t1_j69zl5f wrote on January 28, 2023 at 8:44 PM

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.

fdxrobot t1_j6akocc wrote on January 28, 2023 at 11:14 PM

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.