Diary of a Social Worker II

[Spell Bound]

Sixty-nine year old Eve and her husband are raising their twelve year old granddaughter for the past five years. When the child was seven, her mother shot herself in the heart. The little girl was in counseling for a couple of years but it never seemed to help. She cried only briefly at her mother's funeral, but a few years later there was an incident when the granddaughter had trouble with her homework and screamed, "I want my mother and I want her this instant!" Then she was silent and never brought it up again.

Now when Eve or her husband bring up her mother, the twelve year old puts her finger to their mouths and says, "Shhhhhhh...."

[Teresa]

She just can't shape her feelings into words yet. There's a great book by Hope Edelman, Letters from Motherless Daughters.It covers the gamut of ways/ages the mother/daughter connection is severed by death and the ramifications. Definitely worth the read and the associated workbook is also helpful.