Hi Stefanie,
I am so glad I chose yours as one of my two to read. I am also estranged from my mother and found it shocking, healing and befuddling to look at my mother’s choices after becoming a mother myself. I am impressed by your self-compassion and maturity; both will do your own daughter well. Taking care of yourself is so important, always, but perhaps especially when kids are still in the baby/toddler stage. My eldest is 15 now, youngest is 7, and it just keeps getting better.
As a reader, I really appreciated the use of specific details. They brought color and realism to your piece. I found myself wanting more information on the reasons behind the estrangement, but the author must be ready to share that type of information first. It is fine to leave readers hanging. I have seen some authors work around that by specifically naming the thing they are NOT going to talk about. Something like “I don’t want to put into words what happened. I am sure you remember it as well as I do. Or maybe you remember it differently. I may never know.” Just an idea.
Thank you for sharing this. I hope to learn more about your story over the next few weeks.
Robin