Post by angela on Oct 28, 2012 1:24:01 GMT -5
Claudia looked at the young girl and shook her head. She did not think that she was a wreck. She just thought that she needed some guidance. She, on the other hand, was a wreck. She had essentially grown up without a father; and he had died before she graduated from high school. She had married the first and only person she had ever dated, and now he was dead. She had a five-year-old daughter with Down's Syndrome. She had slept with one of her colleagues and was halfway dating him, but she really wasn't sure about it. No. This girl was not a wreck. Claudia was. She inhaled deeply and bit down on her lip. She really wished she had someone to talk to, someone that would not judge her and someone she could trust. But she didn't really know anybody--and she couldn't tell the only friend she had because she would have asked for the details and Claudia didn't want to give out those details. She rested her back against the couch and rested her hands on her lap. Silas was so distracted--and he wasn't even there! How was she supposed to do her work when he was always on her mind?
The young girl explained that she and her mother didn't get along. It wasn't that they hated each other; they just didn't get along very well. Claudia nodded her head in understanding and brushed her curls from her face. She understood how a working mother could affect a mother-daughter relationship. It had affected her relationship with her daughter, the twenty-year-old. Claudia constantly asked her daughter to babysit her younger sister, and to help her take care of things even though it wasn't her responsibility. She felt like a horrible mother sometimes, especially whenever she was with Silas. The woman nodded her head in understanding. She could only imagine how difficult that was for her. She kind of knew, in some respects... but her mother had been there for her.
"Yeah," she said, "I can imagine how that might be hard." Some people would have used that as a moment to talk about themselves, to turn the conversation to them and forget completely about what the girl had said. But Claudia was a counselor and she was professional. So she didn't mention her personal life. She didn't talk about her father being dead, or her husband, or the fact that she had been acting like this girl's mother as of late. She left all of that out because, really, it wasn't that important.
"Oh, no," she said, shaking her head. "No. It's fine. I'm... I'm a counselor. I'm supposed to sit here and let you dump all your problems on me." She nodded her head. Besides, it helped her take her mind off her own problems and focus on other people's stuff. She cleared her throat. "It's really fine." She nodded her head.
The young girl explained that she and her mother didn't get along. It wasn't that they hated each other; they just didn't get along very well. Claudia nodded her head in understanding and brushed her curls from her face. She understood how a working mother could affect a mother-daughter relationship. It had affected her relationship with her daughter, the twenty-year-old. Claudia constantly asked her daughter to babysit her younger sister, and to help her take care of things even though it wasn't her responsibility. She felt like a horrible mother sometimes, especially whenever she was with Silas. The woman nodded her head in understanding. She could only imagine how difficult that was for her. She kind of knew, in some respects... but her mother had been there for her.
"Yeah," she said, "I can imagine how that might be hard." Some people would have used that as a moment to talk about themselves, to turn the conversation to them and forget completely about what the girl had said. But Claudia was a counselor and she was professional. So she didn't mention her personal life. She didn't talk about her father being dead, or her husband, or the fact that she had been acting like this girl's mother as of late. She left all of that out because, really, it wasn't that important.
"Oh, no," she said, shaking her head. "No. It's fine. I'm... I'm a counselor. I'm supposed to sit here and let you dump all your problems on me." She nodded her head. Besides, it helped her take her mind off her own problems and focus on other people's stuff. She cleared her throat. "It's really fine." She nodded her head.