hugs - lovely to hear from you and I hope that everything goes ok with the vaccine. Sending hugs as they help ?
Smileless - thank you, as ever, for your wisdom and kindness. As you and others have said, estrangement can happen to anyone, especially if there is a third party involved, even though you never believed that it could happen to you.
I always believed, at least a bit, that the parents must have been to blame in some way. Now I don’t think that at all. I believe that all relationships, however solid they feel, are potentially fragile and vulnerable, and that nobody should be complacent.
On a more positive note, I had a 40 minute conversation with DD1 today, which was normal and loving. In the long run, I think that ‘clearing the air’ was the right thing to do, although it came with great risk. Ultimately, I need to have an authentic relationship.
Wishing you all a lovely and relaxing Sunday.