Thank you for your kind words and encouragement. It means a lot. Family betrayal is a difficult subject to discuss as I hardly know what to say or where to start. I believe, ultimately, that my mother is a very unhappy woman and there has been at least two occasions over the last 5 years that she shocked me by telling me just how unhappy she truly is. She said she hated herself and constantly battled disturbing thoughts. She loves to shop for clothes and told me the only reason she goes to church is to get compliments on the way she looks from those she's acquainted with. I use the word acquaintance because I've never known her to have a friend. She spends her time at home reading novels, one after the other, which are usually fictional stories about multigenerational families. She lies at the drop of a hat and secretely listens to my father's phone calls without him knowing it. He is hard of hearing and doesn't hear her pick up the extension but I do. When I say Mom are you there she'll sometimes say yes while other times she'll hang up the phone without saying anything.at all. I know she has taken an antidepressant over the years but I think there's a lot more going on than depression. I'd like to discuss her behavior with her doctors but doubt there is much they can do unless she brings up the subject herself. I intend to move out of state in five months if my health will allow as that is the only way I see myself feeling safe from her threatening behavior.