Image credit: Pixabay I have recently been introduced to the term “mother hunger.” And although the actual term is new to me, I recognize that I have been writing about this topic unknowingly throughout my columns on Together Estranged. In fact, the article I wrote in November 2025 entitled “Estrangement and Fear of the Unknown” interestingly begins with the sentence “I miss my mom.” When I re-read this article, it becomes painfully clear to me how much I miss my mother.

This month, I am forcing myself to write about the positives of estrangement.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about trauma. The word has recently become more mainstream, and while it may be overused or used incorrectly at times, it’s a word people, like me, can use to describe experiences they went through and the everlasting effects. I had a traumatic childhood.

Estrangement has a way of sneaking into your life and triggering memories. And it may come in the form of flashbacks, déjà vu, or you may just catch yourself imitating a parent even though you swore up and down that you would never be like him or her. And all this has gotten me to think about our memories. The painful ones we try to conceal that always manage to surface. Can we trust them?

If you had asked me what my most prevailing emotion has been related to my almost 10 years of complete estrangement, it would be anger. And it has taken me many years to come to this realization.