September 3, 2006:
As a young mother she made mistakes, she says. Very serious mistakes.
"My own mother never taught me anything." About being a parent, she means.
It's as if she senses your dissatisfaction, feeling that it must be directed personally at her.
For you the issue, such as it is, is larger. That there were no competent adults in your life before your senior year of high school. Family, teachers, authorities: hicks and mediocrities, lacking, as she now acknowledges of herself, the most basic skills.
Yet more to the point, lacking interest in you. Your identity. You were seventeen before an adult asked you what you cared about. A teacher. There were two, that year, and they helped to change your life.
That really is the issue. Such as it is.
"But I was never abusive..."