After I Cut Off Contact From My Mother, I Was Shocked By The Brutal Move My Sisters Made

The author in her backyard in McLean, Virginia, in 1971.

Eight years ago, I wrote my mother a letter saying I needed to break contact. At the time, I hadn’t intended it to last — I just knew I needed space. I needed a respite from her stealthy attacks that I still, after 50 years, never saw coming.

My mother had taught me that my body was disgusting, and my achievements were not only lacking, but suspect. When I was sexually assaulted, she accused me of lying. She had me fill out the Myers-Briggs personality test...