# Right now, on the sixth level of Hell **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 12, 2023, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-now-on-the-sixth-level-of-hell/978129 "2023-01-12T20:23:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-now-on-the-sixth-level-of-hell/978129/1 "2023-01-12T20:23:27Z")
There’s a dude sitting on the floor, catatonically staring ahead, arms wrapped around his raised knees, rocking his upper body back & forth. What’s he look like, you ask? _Extremely_ sunburned, goatee two bumps on his head, & a long, whispy thing sticking out of the back of his pants. Almost inaudibly he keeps repeating, “Ohshitohshitoshit”; occasionally throwing in a "What _happened?"_ He’s had some setbacks over the years, like when he went a fiddlin’ in GA but he’s always been in charge…until today. He was unceremoniously booted out of corner office on 7 overnight so fast that it’s amazing his head has stopped spinning. No doubt the decorators are already there giving it a new look, one more to her liking. There’s not a bit of doubt that’s where the abusive bitch who birthed me is right now. Yup, she didn’t just go to Hell, she took it over. I won’t be haunted in her death, because that’s what she did to me when she was alive. So join me, fellow Dopers, for a drink tonight (Fireball??? It seems oh _so_ appropriate!) in toasting my freedom Before you ask, I _tried_ to cut the toxicity out of my life, but she persisted. At least until I eventually wised up & had the po-po explain to her what a no-contact order was. Even then I lived in fear that she’d get Alzheimer’s / dementia as it’s my understanding that those people tend to forget more recent things while retaining more of older memory ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-now-on-the-sixth-level-of-hell/978129/2 "2023-01-12T20:42:12Z")
Congratulations and sorry for your loss. It is acceptable and human to simultaneously have multiple conflicting emotions. My mother felt very similar to you when my grandmother died. I only knew my grandmother when she was “old and trying to get into heaven” as the joke goes, so I never saw the bad side, but from what I understand she was emotionally abusive to my mother for her entire childhood. My mother, who fortunately did not inherit those tendencies, both hated her and talked to her multiple times per week, and visited a few times per year. When my grandmother died, the sense of relief in my mother was palpable. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-now-on-the-sixth-level-of-hell/978129/3 "2023-01-12T20:53:27Z")
Congratulations on losing the mother you had. Condolences for not getting the mother you deserved. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-now-on-the-sixth-level-of-hell/978129/4 "2023-01-12T20:55:49Z")
Well damn. I’m glad that you’re free. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-now-on-the-sixth-level-of-hell/978129/5 "2023-01-12T22:22:52Z")
I can’t say it better than the last two posters. That’s gotta hurt in all sorts of ways. But you’re getting better by the minute. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-now-on-the-sixth-level-of-hell/978129/6 "2023-01-13T01:09:05Z")
Congratulations. Wishing you all the best in processing and healing. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-now-on-the-sixth-level-of-hell/978129/7 "2023-01-13T02:21:12Z")
Take care Spiderman. My 93 year old mother died in October. A wonderful woman but it was time. Working on her estate and all the memories. Luckily, there is no rush. Sounds like you may want to leave some memories behind. Do that. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-now-on-the-sixth-level-of-hell/978129/8 "2023-01-13T20:28:16Z")
Sorry she was ever here, with the caveat that I’m glad you were the result. I get where you’re coming from. I’ll toast your freedom tonight. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-now-on-the-sixth-level-of-hell/978129/9 "2023-01-13T20:28:25Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Congratulations on losing the mother you had. Condolences for not getting the mother you deserved. ^ I can’t think of a better statement than this, thus, I repeated it. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-now-on-the-sixth-level-of-hell/978129/10 "2023-01-13T22:44:14Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Before you ask, I _tried_ to cut the toxicity out of my life, but she persisted. I hear ya. I know two people that live on the west coast basically because it’s as far away from their parents as they can get affordably. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-now-on-the-sixth-level-of-hell/978129/11 "2023-01-14T00:19:35Z")
Ding Dong… I went to my own mother’s funeral mostly to check she was really dead. Sorry to hear of your loss. Losing a parent is a profound loss, for some in one sense, and for others in another. Take time to relax into this, let all that past slide off of you, deeply breathe in that fresh new found, full on, freedom. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-now-on-the-sixth-level-of-hell/978129/12 "2023-01-14T05:51:04Z")
I have been estranged from Mommy Dearest for over twenty years now. Thankfully, she has not tried to contact me. That would be her sister, Auntie Mame, who cannot take a hint. She did manage to friend my son on Facebook, which is fine. He’s an adult and can tell a hawk from a handsaw. I know my mother is getting up there (90 as of November) but I don’t know that I want to make the _rapprochement_, for reasons that I articulated on this board (or its predecessor) long ago. @Spiderman, I think the best perspective you can have on this is to make it a new chapter (or new volume) of your life story. Everything before now is prologue, ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2023, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-now-on-the-sixth-level-of-hell/978129/13 "2023-01-18T19:51:20Z")
Wow! I hope you get over the catatonic state? But, maybe relax there awhile. Yeah that’s the ticket. Love you, Spidey. You’re a good guy and deserved more than you got. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-now-on-the-sixth-level-of-hell/978129/14 "2023-01-20T02:35:29Z")
Go back & carefully reread who was in a catatonic state, but thanks! Last Thurs was a _fun_ day. SO & her daughter were on the way home from an unplanned multi-state drive to visit mom/grandma when they got the up (down?) graded diagnosis - “Terminal” (last I heard they still haven’t figured out what specific type of cancer it is, other than, ‘Stage 4’ & ‘malignant’) Daughter decides she needs a hug from her bestie/college roommate, who lives not that far from me. I just _happen_ to be standing there when they pull up; amazing how that works 😉. SO gets out of the car & kind of melts into my arms, sobbing away. Now I’m one who can _always_ shock & surprise her, & this day was no exception! SO - “She’s terminal” Me - “Gotcha beat” SO - ::gives me strange look:: “Whatcha mean?” Me - “I’m an orphan” SO - “What?!?!?” followed by her best [Bluto](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POQ3qUy92ik) impersonation. “I was not expecting that!” Although we’ve talked numerous times, we’ve spent the past week states apart, dealing with our respective families in different states so we couldn’t even lean on each other; quite literally & nearly as figuratively as we should have been able to. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-now-on-the-sixth-level-of-hell/978129/15 "2023-01-20T02:36:51Z")
Oh, sorry. I see the difference now. But I did wanna know what the wispy thing coming out of his pants was? Curious, ya know? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-now-on-the-sixth-level-of-hell/978129/16 "2023-01-20T03:27:03Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Congratulations on losing the mother you had. Condolences for not getting the mother you deserved. This. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-now-on-the-sixth-level-of-hell/978129/17 "2023-01-20T05:07:13Z")
Ohhhhhh! 👹 I like narratives I have to work at🤗 I can only blame my slowness on this to poor sleep for a few nights. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-now-on-the-sixth-level-of-hell/978129/18 "2023-03-07T05:10:56Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Last Thurs was a _fun_ day. SO & her daughter were on the way home from an unplanned multi-state drive to visit mom/grandma when they got the up (down?) graded diagnosis - “Terminal” (last I heard they still haven’t figured out what specific type of cancer it is, other than, ‘Stage 4’ & ‘malignant’) Well that went fast. SO’s mom was admitted to the horse pistol late last week. Family was told she wouldn’t leave alive. SO came down Friday. We were talking yesterday. I explicitly told her to go ask the nurse what she thought as hospice nurses have a much better pulse (no pin intended) on the situation since they deal with it everyday. She stated a week or so. This morning I got a call, “Get here, NOW!”. Southwest was quickest, but not quick enough; she passed before the connecting flight landed. He’ll of a start to the year, 65 days in & we’re both now motherless ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-now-on-the-sixth-level-of-hell/978129/19 "2023-03-07T05:20:16Z")
Deepest condolences for what you’ve been through. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-now-on-the-sixth-level-of-hell/978129/20 "2023-03-08T01:04:01Z")
I’m so sorry to hear what all you’ve been through. Such a mess to dump on such a fine person as yourself. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-now-on-the-sixth-level-of-hell/978129.md?page=2)