Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • The Atlantic

    Dear Therapist: Should I Just Accept That My Relationship With My Mom Is Beyond Repair?

    I’m getting married, and I want her to be a part of my life.
    by Lori Gottlieb Nov 02, 2020 6 minutes
    Source: Bianca Bagnarelli

    Editor’s Note: Every Monday, Lori Gottlieb answers questions from readers about their problems, big and small. Have a question? Email her at dear.therapist@theatlantic.com.

    Dear Therapist,

    I am getting married in February, and I recently picked out my wedding dress with my mom. My mom and I have had a strained relationship for most of my life, but I was hoping to include her in the wedding planning. I made the trip to Florida to go dress shopping together, but that day devolved into a horrible fight that has left me wondering if I should keep trying to include her, or just accept that our relationship is beyond repair.  

    My mom is incapable of forgiving others and whenever we have any kind of disagreement, she brings up everything I have done wrong throughout my life—not doing chores as a child, sneaking out of the house as a teenager, losing my temper with her as a college student, and so on.

    I am now 30

    You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

    More from The Atlantic

    The Atlantic3 min read
    They Rode the Rails, Made Friends, and Fell Out of Love With America
    The open road is the great American literary device. Whether the example is Jack Kerouac or Tracy Chapman, the national canon is full of travel tales that observe America’s idiosyncrasies and inequalities, its dark corners and lost wanderers, but ult
    The Atlantic8 min readAmerican Government
    The Most Consequential Recent First Lady
    This article was featured in the One Story to Read Today newsletter. Sign up for it here. The most consequential first lady of modern times was Melania Trump. I know, I know. We are supposed to believe it was Hillary Clinton, with her unbaked cookies
    The Atlantic4 min read
    Hayao Miyazaki’s Anti-war Fantasia
    Once, in a windowless conference room, I got into an argument with a minor Japanese-government official about Hayao Miyazaki. This was in 2017, three years after the director had announced his latest retirement from filmmaking. His final project was

    Related Books & Audiobooks