Thank you, David. The pain of abandonment goes deep and lasts long, for sure. It can be very hard to reach those depths of the psyche to heal. Besides my mother, I was fortunate to have to love of grandparents to help nurture me. I think that forgiveness, as hard as it can be to reach, is a necessary part of healing.

You hit on an important point, and one that can be hard to reconcile within ourselves - it is so often our deepest hurts and struggles that make us strong.

Thanks for sharing your story.