W2D7 -- Love Can Build a Bridge

Love can build a bridge
Between your heart and mine
Love can build a bridge
Don't you think it's time?
Don't you think it's time?

Oprah strikes again with another AHA moment for me.
Thanks to the OWN Network , and the new show "The Judds" I have a little more insight into my own Mother/Daughter issues.

Brief overview:
My mom gets pregnant at 17yrs old, has me when she's 18. No Daddy in the picture. We lived with my grandparents, who ended up being more of the parental figures than my mom. But, she plays the older sister role very well!  As often happens, I completed the cycle by becoming pregnant at the age of 16 and had my son when I was 17.

My relationship with my mother has been sort of love/hate. It's been embarrassing, it's been fun, it's been stressful, it's been many things.  I grew up with a friend, a very best friend that shared too much with me and I shared too much with her.  She was the one who let me break the rules and then the one who questioned why I did it.

I'd gladly walk across the desert
With no shoes upon my feet
To share with you the last bite
Of bread I had to eat

I'm 29 now, and still haven't had a typical "normal" day with my mother. We fight, we make up, we go out for coffee. And repeat!  She annoys me, she helps me, she makes me laugh...usually AT her, not necessarily with her!
We get confused for sisters, which pisses me off and thoroughly delights her.
She always takes things one step too far, and I take delight in humiliating her in public.
I don't think she pushes herself hard enough, she thinks I'm too hard on her.
I think she doesn't deal with her "issues" and makes excuses. She thinks she's dealing with them to the best of her ability. And now I see...who am I to judge?

I would swim out to save you
In your sea of broken dreams
When all your hopes are sinkin'
Let me show you what love means

Our relationship is often a hot topic. We are judged for it. People give me a confused look when I say we talk on the phone EVERYDAY!  Sometimes more than that. My mother's had to defend why I tagged along with her so much.  We stick with each other through thick and thin. We've never gone more than a few hours actually being mad at each other. People have said we're dysfunctional.  Is there any family who's not?

When we stand together
It's our finest hour
We can do anything, anything
Keep believin' in the power

She's my best friend,
She's my mother,

She's my Frother...Friend/Mother. ;-)



P.S. For those who can't tell which one is 18 YEARS OLDER...I'm the one without glasses.