I love my mother, but when I look at her I can identify the source of many of my personal flaws.
She’s always been very a-social, she has strong neurotic tendencies, and she has trouble communicating effectively with the people around her.
I can totally relate to all of these shortcomings, and I’m quite sure that she passed these traits on to me early in life. I know she didn’t mean to, but I still resent her a little for my mental complications. Another area that we both struggle with is our overwhelming stubbornness. Neither of us is capable of admitting fault or defeat, and sometimes it can be very dangerous. For example, last year I was visiting my mother when her HVAC system completely failed. She lives in northern Illinois, so the air temperature is always frigid from November through April and it really isn’t optional to have a working furnace. I immediately told her we should look up a reputable HVAC company so they could repair the heating system ASAP, but she was reluctant to make the phone call. She kept insisting that the furnace would be fine and she could figure out how to repair the central heating system on her own, even though she has no idea what that constitutes. It honestly felt like she became more steadfast with this misguided plan every time I brought up professional heating and cooling companies, and soon she had spent over a week without any indoor heat. Eventually I realized she wasn’t ever going to call the ventilation company, so I secretly did it myself.