Oh, gosh, Marcia! Thank you so much for your beautiful comments and for your compassion about the bumpier parts of my childhood. It really doesn't bother me in the least anymore. After a lifetime of working through it with therapy and other healing and my spiritual path - it's all good now. But in order to tell some of the good stuff that came from it, I have to relate the not-so-good stuff! I know my mother did the best she could; she didn't have such great parents either and life wasn't easy for her. It's not an excuse - I just understand that times were different and people weren't into "self-help" or any of that while she was growing up, and certainly not while I was either.

My brother was a violent, sadistic, foul-tempered piece of work but my mother thought he was absolutely wonderful. My parents never punished him for any of the stuff he did to me - and it was a lot over the years. Even into adulthood, he was a complete jerk. I'd cut off my relationship with him and wasn't speaking to him when he died suddenly in his 50s. No love lost there.

Yes, Frank really was a godsend. He's an interesting man in many ways.

Thank you for spending some time with me and for listening to my song. I appreciate all you said and am so grateful to have 'met' you! 💜