• My mother and I weren't close when I was a kid because I thought she was too strict. • Now she's 90, and I've learned to forgive and accept her. • With this new phase of our relationship, I'm cherishing the small moments together.

I grew up in Guyana, where cultural norms set the tone for my mother's parenting and led to plenty of friction in my teen and young adult years — friction that needed time and perspective to soften.

Back then, the rule was simple: children were to be seen and not heard. That didn't sit well with me. I came out of the womb a free spirit who prized autonomy and wanted an empowered voice. Clashes were inevitable. My orientation was incompatible with what I saw as heavy-handed, authoritarian parenting.

Fortunately, reason and time eased my anger. What I coul

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