Sincere condolances Smileless. What a difficult way to hear about the death of your mother. I hope the funeral preparations go as smoothly as possible. Please look after yoursel
Do you think you know when you are going to die?
Sign up to Gransnet Daily
Our free daily newsletter full of hot threads, competitions and discounts
Subscribe
I really need to have some constructive opinions on this .My long term partner of 22 years ( we never lived together) passed away last October, and I was so consumed up with grief that I hit rock bottom over the next few months . During this awful time , my daughter decided she had enough of me ( I know I was very difficult to deal with , but couldn’t pull myself out of the hole I was in ) , then one morning, bit out of the blue , she sent me a hurtful text , saying a host of awful things to me , adding that if and when she decides to talk to me again it will be on her terms . I’d messaged her back pleading not to be like this ,that I was sorry that I’d been such a pain to deal with , that my doctor has put me on antidepressants, and to say that I love her and are very proud of her. She read it , but never replied .
She ignored Mother’s Day , not contacted me once over lockdown to see if I’m ok or want something ( I am registered disabled but I have car and try to be independent as much as possible ) , and worse still , my 68 th birthday was last week and was totally ignored by her .
I have mixed feelings about all this , because I have couple friends who’s daughters have done the same to them , also read many posts on here of similar situations. I feel I cannot go through rest of my life feeling so hurt and upset , wishing and hoping she will contact me , and , if and when she does , I know I’ll be walking on eggshells as be worrying if she will do this to me again. I’ve not been brought up to be doing any of this sort thing to my parents , if we have an issue , we talk it through , to resolve things , never to cut them out of ones life , and be so hurtful and disrespectful. My Mum would be mortified by this behaviour, so would my beloved partner . I didn’t raise my daughter to be so heartless. My son is very hurt also , saying that his family are falling apart .
With all this emotions going on, it’s her birthday coming up in couple weeks time , and I’m at a loss as to wether to send her a card , part of me says yes , I should, ( but feel she will rip it up ) but then I feel that I don’t want to , so maybe that way she will hopefully feel some hurt to know how it feels .
I’m in state of limbo , and would appreciate thoughts on this one. Oh , and I’d like to add, that I love my daughter dearly , have always been proud of her , and miss her terribly.
Sincere condolances Smileless. What a difficult way to hear about the death of your mother. I hope the funeral preparations go as smoothly as possible. Please look after yoursel
I’m very sorry for your loss smileless
Aww, bless you Smileless. Maybe as one door closes another will open. Sad to hear about your mum, but good that your son has made a start at contacting you. Tread carefully though, and keep positive ?.
Thank you everyone for your thoughtful messages.
That's good advice Bibbity, thanks.
Summerlove We are all giving opinions here. That is my opinion. You don’t have to like it or accept it.
Smileless My heart goes out to you for your loss . You have been a steady force of reason and common sense on here. I want nothing but peace for you as you mourn and try to come to terms with all of this.
One day at a time as they say . Hugs
Rhinestone
No one does, personally I do prefer facts to opinions... Don't you?
Smileless By the way you did the right thing by responding to your ES as like you’re said it must have been hard for him to email you
Bibbity If someone is making you miserable and doesn’t bring you happiness would that be a reason to cut them off permanently. Who gets happiness from our spouses, children or friends all the time?
Would just talking to or seeing them occasionally be an acceptable alternative?
Why does that warrant an estrangement?
I’m trying to understand what you mean.
I don't know who Rhinestone is on here but, by golly! she talks some sense. ?
Yes Rhinestone if my marriage brought me nothing but misery I would divorce. What a ridiculous comparison.
If a relationship damages you as a person then anyone is well within their rights to peace out.
We’re not obligated to have a relationship with her because she happened to give birth to one of us.
Why would we want to see her at all?
Her actions and choices hurt us. So we don’t want her in our lives at all?
I don’t care about how she feels about that. I don’t care what hurt that causes her. It’s her problem.
We are happy, happier without her.
Our marriage would never have survived with her around so our children are better off as well.
My husband and children make me happy every day so I Just don't understand that thought at all. There are problems of course, nothing is perfect but that doesn't impact my overall love and appreciation for my family. Problems just need to be dealt with.
Thank you Rhinestone
.
No relationship is without it's ups and downs and where there have been some positives, as you've suggested wouldn't talking too and/or seeing that person/people even occasionally be an alternative to estrangement?
I do get that Bibbity "Her actions and choices hurt us" that's precisely how we feel about our son
.
I honestly don’t know what advice to give you smileless
I can only say that if you were my mum I would want you to think of yourself.
I would be worried that you would put him above yourself and there is the worrying possibility of future heartache when you’ve been in such a brilliant place emotionally.
I am so sorry about your mum, please lean on your DH and those around you who support you.
There may have been positives for my husband.
But we are two individuals and not one unit.
So for me I have had no positives. So I want nothing to do with her. I’ve always said he must make his own choices and learn to live with them.
For him what she has done hurts more because of who she is. His own mother did them. Out of 3 children all have had years of estrangement with her coming on and off again. Blood doesn’t mean you have to put up with someone.
Instead rhinestone please help me understand why someone should put up with a relationship that they don’t want.
Instead rhinestone please help me understand why someone should put up with a relationship that they don’t want.
Family and responsibility is my guess. Along with “seeing a person occasionally can’t hurt”
Someone cutting my monthly heals too. But I’d rather not see the person so I don’t get cut.
But it does hurt. Just the existence of the relationship huts.
And then of course by the very existence of this thread they just don’t respect the boundaries.
No abusive person is ever abusive 24/7. Abuse goes in cycles. By definition, there will be positive moments in an abusive situation. For example, I read about a case where a child was brought into foster care and brought dozens of toys with her from home. Turned out these were "gifts" given to her as a "reward" by the people who were sexually abusing her.
"Some positive memories" doesn't mean that people should have a relationship with another adult. No adult has a right to have a relationship with another adult.
“seeing a person occasionally can’t hurt”
Depending on what that person has done, it most definitely can hurt. Every case is different, there are no hard and fast rules
I agree that "some positive memories" don't mean someone should have be in a particular adult relationship. That said, are some negative memories reason to estrange?
Not every case of estrangement is about abuse.
"Seeing someone occasionally doesn't hurt"
If the person does not change the hurtful behaviour, it hurts a LOT.
It is like picking a scab from a wound - it will never heal if you dont leave it alone
Absolutely. And while I would say my that my MIL was emotionally absolve I accept that is my view and others would not agree. And even so those are not the reasons she was CO. It’s just one of the many reasons I dislike her and why I will never have a relationship with her.
So let’s just say that the reason we estranged Was not because of abuse.
I don’t care. She brings nothing to our lives. So a relationship would only be because she was sad. And by this point. We just don’t care.
In a relationship that is mostly bad, the good moments are painful too because it's like being shown a possibility you cannot have.
It is also widely understood that abusive people use constantly changing behaviour to keep you off balance and good behaviour to reel you back in when they sense you pulling away...
So thats relevant too
You should always send your daughter a birthday card . What harm could that do?
The day she was born was a very important day in your life.
I usually make my own birthday cards for children and grandchildren, using photos of happy times.
Just a suggestion.
Registering is free, easy, and means you can join the discussion, watch threads and lots more.
Register now »Already registered? Log in with:
Gransnet »Get our top conversations, latest advice, fantastic competitions, and more, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter here.