Time for another post on my family. I have previously talked
about my mother, so here is a brief update. Since my last post,
she has been evicted from her place. My nephew has been placed
with another blood relative, although I was contacted by Social
Services.
Well, the reason why I have today and tomorrow off from work is to tend
to the trial dates for my mother's two (2!) arrests for
shoplifting. Today's trial was postponed, due to a problem with
the statement that the State's witness made and what my mother claims
occurred. The witness was dismissed by the State's Attorney, so
they needed to postpone it. I get to do this all over tomorrow
afternoon.
On the way home from the District Court in Glen Burnie, my mother
decided to ask me for money. I only had $8 in my pocket, and I
had made a mental note to not give her any money. I should
preface what I am about to say with the following. Over the last
ten years, I have done as much as I can to help my mom. I have
paid countless times to turn back on phone service. I have paid
utility bills for my mom, paying one in excess of $800 to restore gas
and electric (as recently as two years ago). I have also given
her countless money over the years, with unfulfilled promises to be
repaid. In order to live my own life, I cannot do this
anymore.
Last week, my mother called about me paying for a storage unit for her
to store her recently evicted possessions. After some thought and
discussing it with my uncle, I decided against it. What if 1
month becomes 2 or 3? I just cannot afford to do it. The
other reason, though, has to do with the idea that even if I had all
the money in the world, I still would be unable to correct the root
cause of all of these problems.
So, after my mother asks me for money, she blathers on about something
else. Then, she has the guts to tell me that I can go to an ATM
and take some money out! At that, I take the $8 I have in my
pocket, and I throw it at her, as much as I could in the car. I
then step on the gas to get her to where she is staying
temporarily.
It is at this point that I make the following vow: I am going to limit
my exposure to my mother as much as possible. I cannot take much
more of this, and it would be better for me to, for lack of a better
term, cut her off. I cannot be seen as her lifeline, and she
cannot continue to guilt or cajole me into giving her money or other
assistance. She has made this bed, now it is time for her to lie
in it. I have my own life to live, and it is unbelievable that
she imposes herself upon me in the manner she does, expecting me to put
all aside and live my life for her. To Hell with that! I am
not doing it anymore.
3:59:57 PM 
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