Estrangement

If you’re over 60 and finding yourself grieving a relationship with your adult child that technically hasn’t ended – no fight, no falling out, just… distance – you are far from alone, and there’s a reason this particular grief is so disorienting. Most griefs we’re taught to recognize have a clear beginning: a death, a diagnosis, a divorce papers signed. This one doesn’t…

After 21 years, I left my first marriage. There was no scandal, no single terrible night I could point to. Our values and our goals for a life had simply quietly stopped aligning. One of us was in constant chase of money. The other kept looking toward home and family and finding the other chair empty. Nobody had to be a villain…

It occurred to me, as I was watching a television program, that I was fussing about the behavior of the characters. I thought to myself, Why am I still watching this show when the characters get on my nerve? Why do I keep watching it? How is it that I haven’t turned it off? And that’s how this particular reflection…

ast weekend I was taking a walk, looked down at the sidewalk and saw a small black circle next to a small hole and below was a curved branch in the shape of a wide U. What I saw in total was a smiley face staring back at me. Seeing that smiley face led me to think of current events both personal and universal…

You can love fiercely, sacrifice willingly, pray faithfully, and show up again and again only to find yourself standing in a place you never imagined. A place where your relationship with your adult child feels strained, distant, fractured, or painfully complicated…

I was in my 60s when my relationship with my adult daughter finally broke completely. The details don’t matter as much as this truth: I spent the first six months believing my life was over. How could it not be?

The holidays have a way of bringing everything to the surface. The joy, the memories, and sometimes, the ache of what’s missing. For many women, being cut off from an adult child feels…

Some of us moms have a problem with our attachment to our children, to the point where the bond can become unhealthy. Can we love our children but not let their choices or behavior make us crazy? Is some detachment actually a good idea?

For decades, you lived for your children. Every meal, every carpool, every bedtime story – your life was wrapped around theirs. Motherhood wasn’t just a role; it was your identity, your calling, your heartbeat. So, when that connection is severed – whether…

Estrangement from an adult child is an emotional and/or physical distance that is emotionally troublesome for all involved. The complicated nature of the process and elements of estrangement are as varied as the individual stories…