When you think about it they are both on a hiding to nothing:
H will
never get his mother back, however hard he cries, all he seems to inherited from her is her gullibility and susceptibility to paranoia (both of which which contributed to the circumstances of her death IMO)
M will never be good enough for her mum. She was her daddy's little princess without having to try, but she was obviously superfluous to her mother's life. All she inherited from her mother is her ability to run away from real life - and herself (again and again and again.)
Until the TB book, I didn't actually know that M's mother left for 10 years. Lots of you said it, but I just didn't take it in. What does it do to a child when a parent just - leaves? Just leaves YOU. My cat's 11, I've never even put him in a cattery, never left him with strangers. I take him on the train to the other side of the country (and when I had 2 for 10 years, the same thing). Not Doria blaming, who knows what went on in the marriage or what her story is, but I just can't imagine leaving my child - for years.
No wonder they are so needy.
I was also amazed ay the $45K fees per year at Northwestern
No wonder you guys in the US set up collage funds early. (It's variable, but International students pay approx half that in the UK, home students less).