Thank you, all, for your comments on yesterday’s post about Rebecca and Alice Walker (Mama Drama Take 2), and to all those you emailed me privately to share thoughts. I’m again subverting the post/comment convention to share some highlights because, as always, you GWP readers have so much insight to share:

Gloria Feldt: “I would have found Rebecca’s article amusing if it hadn’t been such sad statement about how women–once again–are damned if they do and damned if they don’t have a life beyond mothering.”

Sally: “I think that while it’s more about her own issues with her mother than it is about feminism & motherhood, it opens up the discussion about the pressures of motherhood and feminism.”

Anniegirl1138: “That was a terribly sad accounting of a childhood and if all true than she certainly does have cause to be upset about it. Past a certain point though our parents failings cannot be blamed for who we are as adults.”

Renee Siegel,: “I’m proud to be Debbie’s mom even if Debbie (GWP) experienced me as ‘overly available.’ Relationships need constant nourishing, interaction, and even conflict to continue to grow and evolve. What matters to me is not just conflict, but the repair of broken times when feelings that are hurt can be repaired and oxygenated in order to survive….Relationships are not static things to be put on shelves once we pass childhood. It’s a lot of work, but well worth it when two people love and respect each other. It is particularly sad if a mother cannot enjoy her daughter’s success and happiness in whatever the daughter choses as a path in life. This works two ways– daughters can be proud of their mothers, as well.”

I interrupt this post for the following message: Mom, I am so incredibly proud of you, and who you’ve become.