There must be something more to the story than just a lack of these things during childhood, because not every non-MLC male or female out there had glowing childhoods.
My father was an insensitive clout when I was growing up. He was mean, unemotional, never hugged, never congratulated us for anything that we did. He liked it when I played football, didn't mind picking me up for practice and things like that, but anything else was a major inconvenience.
He would go out drinking after work instead of coming home, argue loudly with my mom when he did get home, and basically seemed to do his best to ignore the kids as much as possible. My Mom, God bless her, tried to keep everything together. She was the one who would compliment us, love us, hug us, and keep us safe from Dad's tirades.
I grew up most of my life feeling as though I had to do anything possible to keep Dad happy. He's changed A LOT over the years. He was a Vietnam vet and has in the last 4-5 years been in ongoing counseling which has changed him into a man who is almost overly emotional at times. He can and does say I love you often now, and always expresses his admiration for me and what I've accomplished in my life. He has broken down in tears over what has happened in my marriage. People can change.
But again my point was that I feel like I would be a prime candidate for one of these MLC journeys based on my childhood, particularly as it involves my father. But I haven't. So what's the other piece to the puzzle?
Even for my wife, I wonder about this. She has plenty of baggage in her adolescent cart from her mother. But all of the children experienced the same garbage while growing up. Why is my wife the only one of the four children who have found themselves immersed in the MLC ride?
It's more than just bad memories from childhood. Just not sure what the rest of the puzzle is.
bill
"Don't tell me the sky is the limit when there are footprints on the moon."
