Lack of Communication (14)

1 Name: Anonymous : 2007-10-16 17:49 ID:Fa2K+P34

Sorry ahead of time for the long post.

I'll try to make this as brief as possible, but it's going to be difficult. My mother has Multiple Schlerosis. She can't walk very well, she can't drive, she can't leave the house. She basically just sits infront of the TV or the computer and yells at inanimate objects all day ("WHY DID YOU FALL ON THE FLOOR YOU BASTARD" etc etc). I grew up with this, and as my father often goes on business trips, my older sister of three years basically raised me. I never got close to my mother, and any time I tried to talk to her, I was shot down and called a liar or stupid. When I was 14, I just stopped trying, and stopped talking to her altogether. Now nearly 18, my elder sister has gone away to college, and my father is traveling more than ever, leaving me alone with my sick mother. I'm getting my diploma online, and I don't leave the house often, so it's just her and I.

The cyber-school I'm going through requires a guardian to supervise my work. This means checking to make sure I'm doing things, and relaying messages to me from the school. I guess they got fed up with me not receiving any of my messages, and they finally figured out that my mother and I don't speak.

Some sort of student counselor called me today, basically to tell me that I need to talk to my mother for the sake of my schoolwork. He sat there ranting about how I should be lucky that she hasn't thrown me out of the house, and how I should be taking care of my sick mother.

Is he right? Should I be taking care of a mother that I've basically never known? I certainly don't put any weight on her. The upstairs I live in, which she can't get to (Stairs v MS), is nearly entirely self-contained. The only thing I go downstairs for is doing laundry. I'm pretty much like a tenant. She has all of her food mailed to her (Some sort of diet program?), so I do all of my own grocery shopping and cooking.

I really have no desire to speak to the woman. Why should I get close to someone who is going to die in a few years? That would just make me depressed when she's gone. However, my schoolwork comes before my happiness. I really don't think that I could just talk to her about schoolwork. Either I block out everything she says or nothing, and I'm not sure it's worth it to listen to her screaming all day. What should I do?

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