I feel like I’ve spent most of my life trying to forgive my parents for all the wrong they have done to Ed and me. It began even before I reached adulthood. My mom would always say regarding my dad that, “his parents didn’t know how to teach him. You should forgive him. He supports you and puts a roof over your head” every time he said or did anything to hurt me or Ed. So, in other words, it was my responsibility as his CHILD to forgive HIM for things he did wrong, and that it was totally fine for him to continue wronging us simply because his parents “didn’t teach him” and he put a roof over our heads? That’s a pretty damn big request to make of your child, of any child, from an emotional and mental standpoint.

So I read this post from Yolanda Renteria, who is a somatic coach and speaker, on Instagram today, and it really resonated with me:

“Many people can’t forgive, understand, or make amends with their parents / caregivers because they carry the pain of the experiences they went through in their body. Even when logically, they may try to move on, the body pushes them back into safety. Repair can feel like a threat.

“This push and pull dynamic is a sign that things may have been processed logically, but not somatically. Logically we may know things are safe now, but the body has stored memories from the past that surface any time we are in close proximity to people with whom those memories were created. Repair quite literally can feel like a threat to a body that went through so much pain with a person who was also a source of love.”

The truth is that an apology in any form from either of my parents will never be enough to erase what they have done to Ed or me. Nothing will ever be enough to take away that pain or suffering. As much as I want to, a large part of me will never forgive them for all the things they have inflicted on us. And that’s just my truth.