Sins of the Mother (or Father)

I just finished watching a Lifetime movie called Sins of the Mother.  Graduate student Shay Hunter (Nicole Beharie) reaches a crossroads in her life when she finds herself broke, burned out and unable to cope with the stress of school. With nowhere else to go, she embarks on a journey home to Tacoma, Washington, to face her abusive, alcoholic, estranged mother, Nona (Jill Scott). When she returns home, Shay finds Nona living life as a recovered alcoholic, with a new daughter and completely transformed. Thrown by her mother’s new path, Shay must now accept Nona’s changes and influences, including her sponsor, Lois (Rogers) — all forcing Shay to move past her pent-up anger and awaken her own relationships.

It was a great movie, a real tear-jerker.  I sat here wishing my son was watching it with me.  I remembered how my late husband’s 2 daughters severed their relationship with him after one particularly nasty night of drinking during which he spit on them and really scared them.  It took several years of sobriety before they started trusting him again.  It was the same with the rest of his family.  The alcoholic actions of one or both parents has a tremendous affect on a child’s ability to trust; in themselves and in others.

The daughter in this movie had a very hard time accepting her mother’s apology.  She thought her mother should have to pay somehow for her terrible childhood, not realizing how much her mother had already paid for her alcoholic lifestyle.  She wanted to stay a victim, instead of rising above her childhood and forgiving her mother.  This movie did have a happy ending.  Too bad real life doesn’t always turn out like in the movies.