Parents failing you can be painful in ways that run deep, it makes sense that you keep hoping for more from them.

I know from mine that the intense emotions they provoke can make it feel like they have power over you that goes as deep as your feelings, but they don’t. Those are your feelings. They are part of your powerful self that you’ve shared with us here. Your interactions with them will be difficult, and you deserve better, but whatever they say or do they can’t touch what you’ve discovered and what you’ve built about yourself.