My mother is a Leo, an astrological sign whose dominant traits include being strong, bossy and pushy.  All of these describe her.  One of my foremost memories of how she could shoot down my self-confidence took place on my way to work one morning.  I was an attractive, well-dressed young lady wearing a navy blue dress with matching handbag and shoes.  I came bounding down the stairs into the front hallway where my mother was waiting to say goodbye.  I fully expected her to tell me how lovely I looked but instead she came up to me and, without saying a word, reached out and brushed a piece of lint from my shoulder.  I no longer felt well-dressed and pretty.

A few years later, no longer living at home, I found out from a young man who was trying to find me after we broke off a romantic relationship, that she told him she had no idea where I was!  Obviously, she did not care for him, but I did.  So she lied.  I wound up marrying someone she did like.  The marriage lasted eight years, no children, and ended in divorce.

I love my mother.  I believe she loves me.  But it is her personality that has been the biggest problem between the two of us.