Question...do you love your mother?

That's a real difficult question for me. My mother was verbally and physically abusive and continues with her verbal abuse even though she is in her early 80s. We live in different states now, about 16 hours apart. Any visits takes me weeks to recover from and phone calls are almost as bad. I feel responsible to make sure she doesn't end up in the street, has food and shelter, help with legal business or other things requiring attention. But I have a hard time defining love here. My brother feels the same way. He feels for his own mental health, he has limited any time around her. It's difficult to express this to anyone as most people I come across have a great relationship with their parents. I've decided to limit contact and try not to repeat the cycle with my own two sons. They are 17 & 21 and so far I think I have done so.

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I am not sure...my mother was abusive and still is. I am in hiding from her so that she doesn't cause more trouble- trying to take my son from me, causing problems with jobs and friends. She has really hurt me...I feel bad for her, and I know that she is not all bad, but I just don't understand how someone could do what she has done to her own daughter...

i love her because she is my mother (as in she gave me life) but not as a person...as a person she put me in foster care when i was 8 because she was angry with my father...at 12 she got custody back of me because my maternal grandmother told her it was the only way for her to stay in her will...at 16 i came home from school to an empty house with a note on the wall that said she and my step father had moved and i wasn't invited...

so its tough question...yes i love her for giving me life but as a person i'm glad that she is several states away and we do not communicate...

Does anybody find it strange that the only posts so far have been people with negative experiences?

I find it very sad.

I may have not posted in the right spot. But, you only get one mom and i love her! Just cause she is my mom.

Thank you Amy.
I loved my mom too. You only do get one and that's it. She is in heaven now, and I miss her a lot. However, I would have liked to know that I was loved not only as a "Mom" but as a person for who I am too.

I loved my Mom. she passed away in 2003 and I still miss her everyday and think about her everyday.

I lost my mom in 2001 and there is not a day goes by that I don't think of her, wish I could call her and talk about my day. She was such a positive force in my life and I am who I am today because of her. She brought me to love reading and loving all kinds of music. She taught me to accept people for who they were, not for what they had or what they could give me. She always invited people to our home on Thanksgiving that had nowhere to go. She was an excellent cook and I wished I would have taken more time to learn how to make alot of her recipes. Holidays are not the same without her. I was sooooo blessed to have her as my Mom!!!!!

I love my mom with all my heart and I know she loves me even more. We are more like friends and can talk about anything. She is living in China with my sister. I call her every week and usually we talk for about an hour.

She is an ordinary woman, yet her strength during the year when my dad fought with cancer and eventually passed away was extraordinary. She enjoys life. I will always love her and make sure she knows it.

Absolutely and unequivocally. And my father too. They have taught me that all of us are imperfect, and yet in that imperfection we are all that we make ourselves to be. They taught me integrity and compassion. They taught me that each and every one of us deserves to be treated with respect, and yet that respect must be earned by our care for others. I am truly blessed by their devotion to me, our extended family, and by their belief in all that is good in the world.

Of course! A truly wonderful person. (My Dad too)