Dear mom,
I know you had a frustrating day trying to get ahold of the right people in order to get a refill on one of my meds, but seriously, it was not okay for you to suggest that you think the reason my dog has an ear infection is because I neglect his care to the point t it could be considered abuse and he might be taken away from me. The reason he has an ear infection is because he's a poodle and therefore quite prone to them - I could clean his ears five times every day, and it would still probably happen occasionally. You know that when we first got him, we were told that he's particularly prone to ear infections even for a poodle, and you also know that I do a plenty good job of blaming myself for everything without you doing it, too (but then again, how did I get the idea in the first place that everything must somehow be my fault? From constantly being told so/having it assumed that it was as a kid. Why should I expect things to be any different now?). You also know that I deeply love my dog, and nothing could ever make me even consider abusing any animal. This is the person who catches wasps in a container to let them go outside, moves worms off of the sidewalk so they don't dry out, and thinks it's adorable when ants clean themselves, for goodness' sake - how could you think it's even remotely possible that I'm abusing my dog?! I take better care of him than I do of myself! And just so you know, I was doing pretty well with not having very strong urges to make myself bleed for the past few weeks, but what you said was enough to bring that back full force - so thanks for that.
_________________
Yet in my new wildness and freedom I almost welcome the bitterness of alienage. For although nepenthe has calmed me, I know always that I am an outsider; a stranger in this century and among those who are still men.
-H. P. Lovecraft, "The Outsider"