Hi Anita,

Sorry for the lack of explanation, I didn’t want to ramble too much. So my parents divorced when I was too young to remember mostly because he was abusive to a certain degree toward my mom. After the divorce, my mom fought for full custody but I was forced to visit on scheduled dates and selected holidays. The crooks of the issue I think with this is that I have suffered a severe general/social anxiety disorder all of my life. So when I was young, I would have a hard time going to see him because my mom helped me stay (for lack of a better word) sane. We had a routine that would constantly be thrown off when I went to see him. So this made things difficult on my side of things. Because of my anxiety disorder, I tended to act much like a child with ADHD/ADD but I was able to sit still much longer. This might have been why it was hard for my Dad to understand me at a young age. There was also a point in my childhood where my father physically hurt (I’d rather not go into detail here). This emotionally scarred me for many years after. The rocky relationship had to do with the way we got along. So, he never knew that I had a problem, he just thought I was a problem child that needed to be disciplined. This harmed our relationship because he didn’t take the time to try and help me, he just got mad and I got mad.

I hope this helps clarify a few things. Thank you Anita!