Dear Kid With the Crappy Mother...

I see you.

I see you being treated like shit and neglected and there's nothing I can do about it but let you know that I see.

Sometimes it feels like she has the whole world fooled, doesn't it? After all, she has all her friends around cheering her on and patting her on the back when she disrespects you right in front of them. The thing is, their opinion doesn't matter. They're all peas in a pod treating their own children the way she treats you. Doesn't mean they're right. It just means that the people, like myself, who are horrified by that behavior are out here where you can't see us.

I remember when I was around twenty I had a woman approach me and tell me how sorry she felt for me when I was little. I thanked her and told her I wished someone had told me that when I was going through it because it might have made life more bearable to know there were people who saw the truth.

I see the truth and I do feel sorry for you. It's not fair to be treated badly by the person who brought you into this world. All children deserve to be loved and nurtured and it sucks that you can't have that but do you want to know a secret?

It will make you a better person. Yes, you could lash out at the world or turn to drugs or gravitate towards those who will treat you as badly as you've grown accustomed to...
Or
Or you can take everything you've experienced and turn it into a template of what not to be, of how not to treat people. It can make you strong and empathetic and kind and if you ever decide to become a parent you can be the mother you always wished you had. 

I see you because I've been you.