I'm angry. Mara is upset. She hasn't been crying, exactly, but she has been wiping her eyes. She sent her mother a Vermont Teddy Bear for Mother’s Day. I think she's been hoping that her mother might call her about it. But, as usual, so far there has been no call. Most likely it will never be mentioned unless Mara brings it up. But there have been years when her parents forgot her birthday.

Hell, we bought her mother a $500 Bose radio for Christmas, and that didn't seem to be appreciated (she essentially gave it to Mara’s sister). And what did she give us for Christmas? Peanut M&M's. I kid you not. We didn't rate a Christmas card.

I try not to dwell on some of this stuff too much because I don't want to find myself feeling hard toward Mara’s family. But whenever I find Mara sitting there wiping her eyes because she can't get the most basic human emotional interaction from her mother, it makes me mad. But at the same time it makes me appreciate Mama all the more, and I realize how lucky I am.