Replies

Mom and Pop had a strict moral code, but it never seemed strict; its style was easy-going. It was tacitly understood that some things just weren’t done, and they rarely had to be spelled out. We weren’t always blissful; life was partly a matter of putting up with each other, and making ourselves easy to put up with. This meant doing our duties, conversing agreeably, sharing jokes, and avoiding temperamental scenes; saying “please,” “thank you,” and “excuse me.” Love was expressed through good manners as well as hugs and kisses. Undramatic, but no less real for that. Even, in its way, “authentic.”

What is sick is that this, in psychobabble, is 'repressive.'

Simple things, simple things, simple things -- that is where riches are hid.

Good Evening All-

Posted by The Invisible Hand: "...What is sick is that this, in psychobabble, is 'repressive'..."

********************

My parents are still married after 40 years and seem quite happy. They never beat me, they helped me to graduate from college with a BS degree, and subsequently assisted me in starting a life of my own afterwards.

My siblings and I respect our parents very much. I lived at home until I was about 30 years of age, contributing to the running of the household and paying rent equivalent to that on the open-market. It was a bittersweet time for my folks when I purchased a home seven miles away. I've since started my own little family.

With all that understood, a therapist with whom I'm acquainted through a mutual friend calls this an "enmeshed relationship"...which is somehow bad. I call it "parents and adult children getting along as friends like they have done for generations" but, of course, I'm not a professional...

~ Blue Jays ~