Stranger Than Most

By SUSAN LAUTZ, LPC

 

My mom and I never got along. There were no raging fights or icy silences. She was too decent and intelligent a person for that. But she did let it be known that I was not growing into the daughter she wanted. Thankfully she was kind and patient enough not to try to force me into a mold I just wouldn’t fit (country club debutante). Still I grew up fully understanding that the woman I wanted to be (Sheena of the Jungle!) was neither a reasonable nor an acceptable choice. So there was always a coolness between us. We almost never got together unless I was willing to make the nine-hour drive up there to see her, something I did with increasing frequency as she got sicker from the cancer that eventually killed her.