You Can Learn A Lot from A Writer’s Titles

Dysfunction and bitterness as writing niches

Photo by Lacie Slezak on Unsplash

I just read a rambling tirade of supposition, pseudo-psychology, and hyperbole. Directed at me. And what was my crime?

I dared believe that when parents and children are estranged…it might not always be the parents’ fault.

I mean, how dare I?

Of course, in true Medium screed fashion, I must be estranged from my children, because crazy abusive parents like me are always persecuting poor truth-telling writers. Because — and this is my favorite — we love the cult more than our kids. What cult? Don’t ask me? I have no idea.

Here’s the funny part: I am close to my kids. Both of them. They are 24 and 26, and one of them is a contributing member here. We hang out, binge-watch shows and movies together, go to lunch, text things back and forth both funny and serious. When I had to put my sweet dog down last week, they both checked on me more than once. My kids are amazing people.

So sorry, there’s another paradigm shattered.

Now, for several years, I did have a stressful relationship with my parents. And honestly? It was every bit as much my fault as theirs. It might have been more my fault. I made assumptions. I hid from them, not trusting them to be able to “handle” certain truths about me. It’s a complicated story that also involves a former spouse. However, in December of 2017, an “outing” that was intended to harm me began a restoration of closeness with my parents that continues to this day. Sadly, my father passed away a little over a year ago. But we were close, and my mom has become my best friend.

So why did this stubbornly bitter, unhappy, and myopic person unleash her baseless assumptions onto me? What the heck was going on? As I went through some older notifications, I noticed this wasn’t the first time they had railed in my direction. Apparently, their dysfunction also meant I shouldn’t be happy to have been born….or something.

I’ll confess that when I read articles, I don’t always go to the author’s home page. If I like an article, I look for more. If I consistently like the same author’s article, I follow. But sometimes I don’t even think about who the author is. I’m usually reading in between…