Dear Cali Chica:

More- in every vicious dog, in every cruel adult, there is a fragile puppy, an innocent child locked inside. You see glimpses of that fragile puppy, but what you have in front of you is a vicious dog.

In your childhood, it was you, not your mother, who was the fragile puppy. When your empathy is with the real fragile puppy in the context of your mother- yourself, that empathy, redirected, will empower your individual voice of reason.

Empathy removed from her will remove the power of her voice, the power of the core belief you keep hearing.

anita