Daughter of a narcissistic mother.

Yes I hear you Daughter54. Same story here, but mom couldnt stay married long so I kept getting custody, if ya get my drift. I love her so much- but since her stroke took away the beautiful sexy woman she still was at 70, she has been mad at everyone, the world, and is so hard to be with. Almost seven years later, it's not better. Understanding NPD helps- makes me understand ( a little) this charming, lying, manipulative person who really does not see it. You are so right- logic does NOT work with illogical people- it just makes them feel we are making them wrong. Frustrating. Yes it can age one. My mom used to call me Momie. Got her to stop but I sure hated that. I have always felt older than her, and worn out, and then guilty. Hang in, really really do nourishing things for your inner being. As lonely as it seems, be to yourself the mom you wish she could have been. Blessings on us all.

Daughter54--I hear you loud and clear. My mother too has NPD along with a host of other psych issues. Growing up was just terrible. She made it clear that she wished she'd never had my sister and me but loved our brothers to death. We wanted to die so badly just to escape. I was in 2nd grade and sister in 3rd. That's the earliest I can remember her. And, you are absolutely right about them being illogical. One canNOT have a normal conversation with them because they are always and I repeat ALWAYS right and the other is always wrong. ..every single time. I'm not the only child. But my other siblings have had nothing to do with mom for several years. Had to put her into a NH 6.5 years ago and I have been the only one to care for her, bring her home to live with me when NH was neglecting her, clean her up each day..incontinence...she always fought with me too when she had poopy pampers and said she didn't..then I'd go to clean her up and she'd STILL fight with me over it. She was a terrible mother. I, like you, never got to say "my mom is a nice person"..she was NEVER nice to sister or me. Yet, she wanted nobody to know and she was a different person in front of all others that weren't in my immediate family. Dad never even knew how she tortured sister and me as he was always at work and we were not allowed to talk to him when he got home...EVER. I just thank God every day that I am not like that. It's hard growing up without a real mom and the things real mom's do for and with their kids. RedmondBabe is right..we have to be to ourselves the mom we wish they could have been. We survived childhood!!! It's still VERY hard for me to go visit her each week (used to be every 2 days) in the NH. She is still very hateful when I walk in and she is picking poop out of her butt and trying to wash it down the sink. I always start cleaning her up and am so careful what I say and how I say it....still makes no difference. She'll always be that same NPD person until she passes. Just a few days ago when I went to see her, I cleaned her up as usual in her bathroom. After that, we sat down and I said, " they tell me you were playing the piano today". She YELLS at me ...YES, I WAS!! mean!! I am the ONLY person who has ever visted her, took her to dances, shopping, to visit her relatives, dr. appts, etc. etc. When I asked her why she was being so mean and hateful to me she said, "Because YOU make me that way!!!". I said...oh, okay..I'll leave. And leave I did...SO glad to get away from her. Why should I even care if she is clean or dirty? Why do I automatically start doing the Aide's jobs every time I go? I sometimes wish she would just pass.....her mind is gone..all she does is eat, sleep and walk..and be MEAN. Only when she passes, will I be free of feeling that I need to go clean her up and visit.

My father is definitely a described NPD. I did not know there was such a disorder. My father's is in combination with his dementia. He can be very cruel to his wife, children, and caregivers. I visit my father and mother once a week to take to church. I would rather vist more often, however, my father's aggressive behavior just puts me in a depressed state. I have come to realize that they don't remember the last visits and that I can overcome the guilt associated with not visiting more than once a week. The facility were they are located has memory care and works with both of them. Mother also has dementia, however, is in a good state of mind. My father has overcome trying to be aggressive with me as I put him in this place each time, difficult and took many months to accomplish.

Wow...HOW did you put him in his place, SKIMAINE? I need to know.

I am the daughter of a mother with NPD also, but my mother expects my sister and I to move mountains for her. She is in a NH for a little over a year now because of Vascular Dementia. She lives in delusions and yet has clear thought about certain things. When my father died 10 years ago, I moved in with her because she was afraid of being alone. Along the way she started developing dementia symptoms, but because of her usual behavior, we did not realize it for a while. Life with her in this condition was horrible, because even though she did not know she was home most of the time, she still tried to "call the shots" with everything. She did not recognize me most of the time and believed I was working in her house and that the real me was out with men all the time. She would call my sister almost daily to come and get her and would pack up clothes and other weird items to go to my sisters. I would always be in an upset state at these times, and in a few hours she would want to return home. My mother clings to us and expects us to take her home each time we visit her in the NH. She writes me letters about how we took her money and she is all alone, etc. She used to have the Aides call me constantly until I had to put my foot down and not allow them to call me and upset me at home. Her conversation was always "you come and get me right now or else". Last Sunday she harangued my sister and I for the whole visit about everything...she wants to come home, etc., etc. She thinks she is working at the NH and not getting paid and that I caused this. Whenever we go she cries and hugs us..."thank God you are here, etc., etc.,". The emotional burden of this has caused my sister and I to have no lives. We feel constantly guilty even though we know it is her disease (past and present) that has sucked everything out of us. She always found fault with everything we did, what we wore, etc. But she loved us to death. She just wants to be with us and never let us go...It is daunting. I am finally realizing that I have to see her less even if she gets upset by this, because I deserve a life also. I am 64 years old and wonder when I will finally have a life. She is in a great place where they take wonderful care of her....Anyway...there are different kinds of NPD mothers....this is mine.

My father continued to try to hit me and call me names. I discovered that approaching these actions as you would a child's. Just say NO! Or say that you will not get something if you do not behave. For instance, I was taking my mother to the doctor, he threaten me, so I said based on your bahavior, you cannot go, he was very angry and the staff at the facility took over as I left with my Mom. I said to him to do NOT touch me. I had to control my feelings and remind myself that he has a sickness and I could not be submissive. He would would not act like he does if it were not for the sickness. My father is a controlling person and had been very active. The facility where they are living makes attempts to keep him active, however, he is now acting out with them. I gave them the same advice, of course, we are paying big money to make this happen. Stay Strong and remember you are the authority now!

It sounds like you have your act together so all I can say to you is keep up the good work. If this helps, I think it is kind of a blessing that you are an 'only'. My mother has five of us and I am the oldest. My father is also, I am sure, NPD and was an only child. He is also the child of an alcoholic (my grandfather) who loved him and my grandmother but embarrassed them both at times and caused my dad to 'never be a kid'. It was airing dirty laundry to discuss that this was a problem all the years he was growing up and therefore, when he married my very mean, self centered mother, who I am sure has other psychological issues too (probably BPD) he went into deny mode. Everything is rosy. And, since my mother needs a dumping ground, that was me. I do not have the 'status' most oldest kids do. I am pretty much nothing she ever wanted and was punished emotionally all my life because I was close to my grandmother, who could see how I was treated and therefore I was her 'favorite'. My dad all my life tried to tell me the things my mother did and said somehow made sense and I really actually prayed as a child that some day I would understand her. I was sure I was the one who was wrong and she was right and I just wasn't mature enough to get it. I never did get it and I still don't because it is horse manure. I understand about the fact that these people need a scapegoat. I think it's been harder because the rest of my siblings are not and never have been treated like I have been. A couple of them are so much younger that I was out of the house before they were old enough to really know what our relationship was like. And I live out of town and have for a long time. I have met people who say to me things like "Wow. You're great! Wit the stuff I heard about you I didn't know what to expect". My parents never spent much time with my kids growing up but with my siblings kids they are 'involved' grandparents. I think some of it was that when I had children they had friends to do things with and now a lot of their friends are sick or gone. I do sort of get that. But this goes as far as when my baby son, who had been in intensive care for a month after birth with spinal meningitis and then pneumonia, was able to come home and I got the call in the late afternoon from the hospital that I could come get him, my parents had plans to go boating that evening (no obligations with anyone else) and my ex husband, who was a lot like my mother, was coaching a football game and didn't take the time off either! I couldn't believe that my parents and my husband all thought that this was no big deal and I could just go get him the next day! My grandmother went with me and my three year old daughter and brought this child home, a child who had almost died!
There are so many hurts from this woman and consequently, from my dad, who looked the other way, who could see it and did nothing or tried to tell me that I was too 'sensitive', that if I dwelled on it, the emotional pain would just be too much. When my precious grandmother died, they took her to the hospital the night before and my sisters both knew too (they are nurses and I am not, so my parents tried to use that 'logic' to explain why they called them and not me). I got the call the next morning and by then she was on so much morphine that the hours when I could be there with her knowing it were gone. (I do think she knew, however, because I stayed 20 hours and she died fifteen minutes after I left). My dad told me that week not to 'grieve in front of your mother because it hurts her feelings'. Later, he also called me to meet with him and told him that my grandmother wanted me to have her diamond ring, but she didn't write it down because she didn't want to hurt anybody else's feelings. He told me he was giving it to my mother and 'when we die there will be enough jewelry to go around'. I couldn't believe he would tell me and then not honor her wishes. Yes, she should have written it down and didn't. I told my sisters then and they both thought I should have it. Now, 20 years later my mother has told them both that EACH of them are getting it and told one that "I want anybody to have it but ___ (me)". My parents have money so both sisters and both brothers seem ok with whatever they have to do, which includes siding against me, to appease my parents. I find it disgusting and won't suck up. Any time I have stood up for myself, put boundaries that need to be there up, etc. I have been threatened with being written out of the will. My mother's abuse is something I am supposed to just take and say "that's just the way she is". Well, it is, but I am having no part of it.
My parents are 77 and 81 now. My brother who is their executor called me recently because last year - LAST YEAR - I stopped my mother from rampantly gossiping about another family member. I know she things so little of me that there is no reason I would spend ten seconds listening to her rants. She uses me if she can't get ahold of anybody else and then backstabs me. She hung up twice when I tried to tell her to stop so I ended up putting it into a firm but not disrespectful email. My dad later called to ask me to apologize. I am sure she was chewing his leg right off day and night and he just wanted it to stop. He couldn't tell me what I had said that showed a lack of respect so I told him 'no'. For a year she has been sending me horrible, attacking letters and I have heard from my brother that I need to call them because they are getting 'old and you never know what will happen'. Then he got to the money part and told me that my mother wants to write me out of the will and my dad isn't sure! He said if that happened he wouldn't know what to do! I told him that if I were him I would 'do the right thing' and leave it at that. I am just done.
My husband and I are fine for the future. It would hurt to be left out but I have been ready for that all my life I think. If I somehow had to take care of my parents I would. But I wouldn't let them get to me. Safe and dry. That's it. I still feel something for my dad but I am beyond hurt that he never stood up for or protected me. I don't think I feel anything for my mother anymore. Not anger. Not love. Nothing. As for my siblings, my parents have always been good at 'divide and conquer'. They profess to be Christians. All of them. I am not the person who can judge them. I just don't want anything else to do with them for the most part.

A very touching story Frustrated2. I think you are right on tract....Do not have anything to do with them. Dysfunctional families are everywhere...I grew up in one too and am still dealing with NPD, Bipolar, and more...mom. Siblings have never cared ONE bit about her..never called, no visits, no Christmas, no birthday, no Mother's Day...NOTHING. It's as if she is dead to them and has been for 6.5 years. I want nothing to do with my siblings and told my sister (gosh, wish we chould choose our siblings)...to NEVER contact me again. She has always been self-centered and an alcoholic, bullying to me since childhood. All I ever wanted was to be accepted by her and I never got that. I'm GLAD I don't ever have to see her even though she only lives 15 min. from me and drives by my house to and from work. I am waiting to MOVE from this location as I never want to see her vehicle or HER again. And....she has cancer and is on cancer medication which states NO alcohol..yet she refuses to stop drinking every day. I can say without hesitation that I will NOT be going to her funeral.

Another caregiver to an NPD mother here, she also has paranoia, OCD and certainly age related depression. Since mom totaled her car a few years ago, I added chaffeur to the many hats I wear while being caregiver to her. She is in relatively good health and still mobile. Recently, I gave up my home and moved in with her. Needless to say, it wasn't a good choice.
I managed well with her manipulations and anger until the move was accomplished. I now feel stuck and quite stupid. I've used all the tools in my arsenal such as deflecting, walking away, leaving the house, refusing to take cash or gifts when offered (we all know strings are attached) etc which worked quite well when I had my own home. We also know that there is never enough attention in the world for an NPD. Any attention, good or bad is what they feed on. I even recognize when she is angling to set me up to appear foolish, incompetent, crazy or wrong. I've been her primary source for socialization, shopping trips etc. She now is rejecting most of it. Making ridiculous demands is her latest tool. Last evening it was a request to wash the throw away cartons from the take out dinner before tossing them into the trash. That's something she has never, ever done with trash. I thought take out would be a treat but I wound up being dessert and to top it off, I've been disowned and told to leave her house. Looks like I will need to call around and bring in professionals. I don't enjoy throwing in the towel, but I can not see staying around to see what new trick is in her bag of goodies. BTW, she is 88 and I am 65. She has driven off all her friends. Thanks for listening.

It is heartbreaking to read these stories and some hit close to home. My Mother and 2 siblings are also paranoid and narcissistic. I am also the oldest. Our lifestyle is so very different from the other two. I can't apologize for our good fortune which is the result of lots of hard work; but am made to feel at least once a week that is should have been one of my sisters and not me who married my husband.

I have been made to feel my whole life that I should be taking care of my siblings; doing their homework, getting them out of trouble and being responsible for the poor choices they made.

I spent my growing up years wondering what I did wrong and why my sisters were so loved and I felt just tolerated. Took years of therapy to realize it wasn't me and it still isn't me!

litttletonway--I'm SO glad that you got therapy and now know that it wasn't you all those years! I started therapy two years ago and we still haven't got to the issues that plague me. I did learn however that the reason I can't trust anyone is because I couldn't trust my mom to care for me as a child. She was so hateful and torturous to sis and me. I'm amazed we lived through that! But it has left scars, the kind that aren't visible to the eye. WE are survivors!! There is a reason for it. God knows our hearts and everything we've been through. You've worked hard for what you have and don't let anybody put that down! God bless you!

littletonway, I was the scapegoat growing up too while my brother was the golden child. I began my healing process 25 years ago and am coming from a place of calm understanding. For some odd reason, I seemed to have forgotton for a time, that an NMD doesn't change with age. I believed I wanted/had to be her caregiver, after all "she" is "mom". For awhile last night, I was feeling guilty because I realized that being her caregiver is not what I really want. I am no longer the person for the job. I am tired. I've been her go to person for much of my free time since she retired in 1993. This morning she physically attacked me,tore up photos with me in them and attempted to destroy things in my room. I will always be seen as a child to be bullied or manipulated when I displease her. I've done my best for her and will see that she is cared for by professionals.

Shivaya, your story and what is happening to you really hit home for me. Sometimes I wonder if many cgs have narcissistic parents, because parents who weren't that way wouldn't expect children to give up their lives for them. I know I could personally never ask that of anyone. That your mother shows no appreciation for the help you give makes me furious at her. And now she is putting you out without a concern for what she is doing to you. I hope that you are seeing it as a "Get out of jail free" card. I am sorry that I did not cash my card in when my mother told me to leave once.

Good for you, Shivava!! Sometimes we just have to say..I've done everything I can possibly do and her behavior is not going to change..ever. Find a good facility (if there any where you live). She will have people her own age to talk to OR argue with. I've seen mom do both with the residents. I am almost 55 and have been taking care of mom for over 20 years. She made me promise her when I was 14 that if she ever got so bad to have to go to a NH, that I would take her to live with me. I've DONE that many times over the last 6.5 years..all alone with no help from siblings or anyone. I will always be the daughter...hence I am always wrong. It's different at the NH. She's not as mean to the aides as she is to me. Maybe your mom will be that way too. God bless.

TY for your comments and kind support. Both of you! JessieBelle, I couldn't "not" give her this one last chance. I didn't want to be wrong again. I think that is one of the most dangerous "gifts" given us by our NPD's Were were made to be wrong, fear to be wrong from childhood.
teachergear, you know you are not always wrong. We will never be able to prove to our NPD mom's that we are lovable, capable women and do hundreds of right and good things everyday. We can become the single most powerful authority about who we are by constantly reminding ourselves of who we really are, not get sucked in by our moms tape playing in our heads.

Thank you all for sharing your stories. My mother (86) has NPD which we did not understand until my cousin became a psychologist and explained it to us. Now that she is 86 and needs a caregiver, my sister and I are clear that it cannot be one of us since we would not survive her abuse. My mother has gone so far as to tell me that my sister (the primary dumping ground for her venom) needs to die before she does so she doesn't "ruin everything". Unfortunately my sister is so enmeshed with my mother that I fear she will kill herself after Mom's death. When I told Mom that, her face lit up like she had just won the lottery!!!! I hired a caretaking company a few days ago to stay in the house 24/7 but the dramas are already starting and I am feeding the administrator bits and pieces of information each day by email. I fear I will lose their services if they know what she is really like. She has fallen a number of times but not been hospitalized. I am actually looking forward to the first time she is admitted so that I can tell someone the whole story and hopefully get her placed somewhere that will take good care of her. It feels good to tell someone this. My only advice to children of NPD parents is what two counsellors and a lawyer have told me - if you want to be responsible, do it from a distance.

Shivaya, I understand your comment about the "golden child" since both my parents put me in that position when they wanted to prove (by comparison) that my sister was defective. If it makes you feel any better, it's another form of abuse because I could never be real, or show emotions because a perfect child wouldn't annoy their parents with anger or tears. I was suffering and lonely and could not ask for help because obviously a perfect child doesn't need help. My real personality was invisible and it took years of counselling to uncover who I am. Studies have shown that children who observe abuse are effected in the same way that the abused child is affected. No one escapes the game unharmed. I notice your icon is a meditation album/book?. That's how I cope too. Buddhist lessons in awareness are currently keeping me sane. I try to do the best I can and then detach from the outcome. It's not easy, but then, it's a path - not a destination.

Whenisotover2, Yes. the goldenchild is the flipside of the coin of abuse. My brother has had his issues with being the perfect child, keeping up appearances and sadly, oddly, he married a woman very much like our NPD mother.He and I played both roles at times as children.::sigh:: We've been talking out our feelings and memories over the last decade and a half. Both of us are finally on the same page regarding mom and have a healthy mutually supportive relationship. As for your own NPD, I hope you find the help you need to get mom and sis squared away.
Ahhh::chuckle:: my icon is a graphic I made from a photo I took of my male cat. He decided that my medittion cushion was perfect for a nap. Pippin is my best guru!

JessieBelle- I think you really hit on something with why so many people on this board have NPD parents. That makes alot of sense. My MIL did not ask if she could live with us so much as she told us. My own mother was narcissistic, although I did not know what the issue was, other than something was not right. Even after they are gone, they can still mess with our heads. It's important to understand what NPD is and how it affects you, so you can finally let it go. I think that is why my MIl does not get to me in that way. I won't let her. I can be objective and I know the games she is playing. That is why I also have no hard feelings towards my SIL for not wanting to take her in. It would make her life miserable. I can see my husband has been cast in the role of golden boy and my SIL as the dumping ground. My concern is without anyone stepping in to take over that role, it seems like she may be eyeing our teenage son for that. I will not, and cannot, let that happen. I have been that child and will never let that happen to one of mine.

I too have an NPD mother who has is basically bed ridden. I have left my home and childen several times to live with her and care for her, only to be thrown out or screamed at for being late with her lunch. We have guardienship now and are trying to find a nursing home, Of course she refuses to go to the doctor for a physical, I assume she thinks its for the nursing home, (which it is) but she does not know yet. My Sister and I are going crazy trying to get her somewhere, her health is not good either. Even though we love her, shes not the mother I remember, she calls the police on us with false accusations, my sister cant even be around her because she accused her of beating her, my sister called the cops and they ended up baker acting my mother, because she pulled a gun on my sister, which her now fired caregiver gave her. I lost my son 3 years ago, 3 months after he returned from Iraq, the only light in my life i have is my new grandbaby, but i never get to see her, because Im here taking care of my mom. She does not appreciate anything you do for her, complains, accuses people of stealing, screams like a demon over nothing. We need help, i just cant do it anymore, i dont want to end up hating my mom.

I feel for you friend, as you are in the same boat as me. My mother was also nasty, vindictive, mistrusting, cruel, unsupportive, and never my friend. She always spoke to me abusively behind closed doors, and was the loving mother in front of others or when speaking of me. I was her slave and her possession. She loved hitting me and my sister and verbally making my father's life miserable too. She would get off on hitting me and humiliating me in front of my friends, but never in my father's company. He worked day and night. I guess to get away from her. My narc mother is now turning 92, buried my father 11 years ago. She never worked a day in her life, and is still able to live comfortably in her own house on my father's hard earned money and paying an aid to torment now too. I can't tell you how many aids we have gone through in the last 3 years. They can't stand her and I am surprised they haven't beat her. I still do shopping, errands, phone calls, cleaning, and pay her bills. My friends, that I grew up with, who witnessed her abuse, can't believe I do anything for her. But, she is a human being and I just can't walk away. I guess she still has that power over me in a way. And at least I know I am not numb, like her. But, I have come a long way since my dad died and saw her for the cold, evil, uncaring women she is. Incapable of any compassion for anyone but herself.
So you are not alone, my friend. Don't let your mother kill you. You will be dead and buried and she'll still be here, only missing you because she can no longer torment you.
Good luck to you.

I will be 60 later this year. I had to cut my parents off a couple of years ago. My mother has admitted to me that she 'never really bonded with you as a baby' as an explanation as to why she is so cold to me. She would of course never admit that; says the things, well, said! the things she does with no audience but me so she can deny it. Very histrionic and cries and puts on an award winning show for my dad, who is in denial and an enabler. I think he's NPD as well. Both alive, living in their own little fiefdom, four acres with a huge house and three of my four siblings living in the same neighborhood where my dad was a developer. Of course, he has the biggest house, the largest property, and expects everyone to come to his house and do yard work. It's a test of commitment and love. Paying for it would not do. They have to 'give of themselves'. Yuck. I was diagnosed two months ago, after many years of awful pain, with RA. Before that, due to a car accident injury as a child when my mother was driving and I hit the windshield, I ended up with degenerative disc disease and had to quit working (I was in my fifties). We live 1200 miles from them and I never heard what a s--head I was because I didn't make the trek up to see them - by car - again, a test of love and commitment. They would turn this around even and say how often THEY visited US as if that meant they 'cared' more than we/I did. Let's not mention we live on a golf course in Florida, my father, now 84 and my mother who has some dementia problems, now 80, LOVED to come here to golf, shop, and be waited on hand and foot! Three weeks at a time of my mother having temper tantrums, my dad making excuses, smoking in his room and the back of our house and lying about it - what? I cant' smell that? I have RA induced asthma. Any time I wasn't up for something and say politely I wasn't feeling too hot I'd hear how "Just wait till you get to be OUR age". RA is not an 'age' thing and of course, caring only about themselves, had no interest in being educated about it. When I finally drew parameters around how they, particularly my mother, treated me and my husband backed me up, the sh hit the fan. I got a campaign of crazy and nasty letters quoting the Bible, calling me a terrible daughter, you name it from 'her'. I have been divorced - married a guy exactly like my mother when I was 21, imagine that! - so the letters started coming to "(my first name) (my maiden name) (my first married name) (my now married name) followed with (or whatever you call yourself now)". She told her minister, my children, everyone she knew what a horrible person I am and I know she lies. My husband called both of them and told them to lose our number and never contact us again. She has damaged beyond repair any relationships I had with my oldest daughter who seems to have the same traits her dad and grandmother have. Lies are ok if they accomplish the end goal. It is heartbreaking but nothing can be done. I turn it over and pray about it. It's been sad to be diagnosed with a chronic illness and deal with the rough treatments and know your family could care less. They have money and my siblings either want a piece of that action (I don't care) or are as dysfunctional as they are. Sad but gotta be strong.

What I did neglect to add and this was actually my point, is that my mother comes from very 'long genes' on both sides. And dementia. My dad's side, who I take after in so many ways (found out my RA is inherited from his side of the family, they did DNA mapping, etc) all seem to live to about mid-80's. It's ironic and a little funny to me that most likely, my mother will lose her mind (it's already been going on and it is awful how my dad makes excuses for it as do both my NURSE sisters. He recently bought her a new car and she should NOT be driving). She will probably need to be in a LTC facility and my dad will go first. Because he is in denial, he has not set things up financially to make sure she can't blow through the money and has set up my brother, a CPA to handle it and her. He is not forceful but he thinks he is. He also was as much of a black sheep as I was to them and they have 'tapped him' for this 'honor' knowing how much it makes him feel lin their good graces, something that he never had for over 50 years. They know how to work everybody and pit everyone against each other. It is almost brilliant. Anyway, I laugh when I think of the scenario that: a) my dad passes away soon, b) my mother has dementia and is in this huge house and piece of property c) she has access to a ton of cash that she spends like crazy (He has never reined her in and she shops daily; a good friend recently saw her at a store standing in front of sunglasses for 45 minutes trying to pick a pair out. She can't even see out of non script sunglasses) d) she drives everyone crazy who cannot contain her behavior and she runs through the money they all seem to care about and e) I am dead long before her! I do not hate her but I really don't think I love her. I am glad I have other siblings who have to and will deal with this. If I had to I would find her a place to be and rarely see her. I have run out of any empathy or sympathy for her and would just 'do the right thing'.

You have all pretty much described my mother to a T. She`s been in a NH for 2.5 years, now bed ridden and barely able to speak, mostly sleeping and too weak to be obnoxious. The last few days she`s been refusing food and when I visited yesterday I couldn`t even get her to sip some apple juice. I expect she will pass shortly. As I left she said ``Thanks for coming, have a good life`` which really creeped me out.

I don`t know what I feel at this point, pretty much just sad for what might have been. Having spent her life yearning for bigger, better, fancier, abusing and trampling on anyone who crossed her path she has no friends and, apart from me, she`s dying alone. I don`t think she`s ever been really happy.. Karma, some would say, but it`s just sad.