Were You Expecting to arrive at Heal and Forgive? If so you were re-directed to my new blog.

The Heal and Forgive blog was born out of the publication of my first book, “Heal and Forgive.” I am happy that the blog has been helpful to a robust readership.

After my publisher recently went out of business the book was re-released under the title, “Mother, I Don’t Forgive You,” which is more in keeping with the premise of the book. I decided to re-title my blog along with the book.

I hope you will continue to peruse the posts and join in on the various discussions including our right as survivors to decide our own healing journey, with or without forgiveness.

The back story on the title change can be found on the post directly below:

Featured Post

Mother, I Don’t Forgive You – Why the Book and Blog Were Re-Titled

In 1992, after nearly a decade of trying desperately to forgive my mother, my life was spinning out of control.   Not only had I failed at f...

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Abraham Lincoln and Estrangement

It is my pleasure that my children are free, happy
and unrestrained by parental tyranny.
Love is the chain whereby to bind a child to its parents.
- Abraham Lincoln

Although experts agree that family estrangement appears to be on the rise in recent decades, family rifts are certainly nothing new.

I found it interesting to learn that Abraham Lincoln was estranged from his abusive father. When Lincoln’s brother notified him of his father’s impeding death, Abraham decided not to go see his father. This is how he responded:

From a January 12, 1851 letter to his brother (Reference - Abraham Lincoln and His Books, By William Eleazar Barton, p. 70):

Dear Brother,

I sincerely hope father may recover his health; but at all events, tell him to call upon and confide in our great and good merciful Maker, who will not turn away from him in any extremity. He notes the fall of a sparrow, and numbers the hairs on our heads, and He will not forget the dying man, who puts his trust in Him. Say to him if that if we could meet now it is doubtful whether it would not be more painful than pleasant, but that if it be his lot to go now he will soon have a joyous meeting with many loved ones gone before, and where the rest of us, through the help of God, hope ere long to join him.

Write to me again when you receive this.

Affectionately,

  1. Lincoln


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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousOctober 10, 2013 at 10:53 AM

    And yet Lincoln's son Robert had a very tumultuous relationship with his mother (Mary Todd Lincoln) that ended in estrangement. In the book "Understanding the Borderline Mother" by Christine Lawson, Lawson sites so many examples of how Mary Todd Lincoln was a destructive force in Robert's life. I think the saddest thing is when the cycle repeats itself in one form or another.

    ReplyDelete
  2. healandforgiveOctober 13, 2013 at 4:12 PM

    Well said!

    ReplyDelete

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