Bags of Our Mothers

I don't know exactly what the book, FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS, is about, as I have not read it - I am bogged down with reading materials, thank you very much! - but bags of our mothers, now there's something that I know! I have come to understand that the "baggage" spoken about, especially when discussing relationships, has very little to do with our own Samsonite, and more to do with the luggage our mothers carried. If we let them, and as daughters, most of us do, they will pile their trunks and cosmetic cases on our backs to carry for them throughout our lives. No wonder girls are constantly being told to stand up straight!

Although I have desperately tried to save my own daughter from this, I know that there has been spillage. I don't mean for it to happen; it just does. It is impossible to have a meaningful relationship with your child without showing your worst self - the overused and overstuffed pieces that make up the carpet bags of who and what you are. Many people, my own mother included, choose to keep these pieces hidden away, never to be seen by anyone or discussed in front of company, or talked about at all really, but this (fortunately?) is not my way. I need everything out in the open for the world to see. So, if my delicates get thrashed about in public, well, that's just the price for taking the trip.