My mom is an alcoholic and I lived alone with her for a few years. My brother had moved in with his girlfriend and my mom had left my step-father so she moved in with me.

In addition to the alcohol, my mom is just a toxic, passive-aggressive person. Its just who she is. Because the alcoholism didn't come to light until I was already living alone with her, no one in my family seemed to believe me. I could tell you some stories about the vindictive, unbalanced crap she'd pull while I lived with her.

I eventually got married and moved out, leaving her alone in my house. She would get lonely or bored and start looking for someone to pick a fight with.

So she called me up one night weeping saying that she just couldn't do it anymore, she had been going to support groups for the drinking and she said she just couldn't do it. She was slurring her words pretty bad and I was concerned she might hurt herself, so I drove across town to see her. I can't remember why, but my wife was with me. Maybe to help in case of something serious. I dont remember.

So we got there and my mom was fine, she was drunk, but she was just angry because my step-father blah blah blah and my brother blah blah blah and my aunt and uncle blah blah blah.

She likes to bash the rest of the family to try to turn us all against each other. I wasn't buying her crap and refused to confront my brother over her complaints. So she started laying into mein front of my wife about how I'm too non-confrontational and I need to stand up for myself and I let people walk all over me and Im a push over and blah blah blah.

I dont mind this, I heard that for years while I was living with her. So I signal to my wife that its time to go. We get up and go for the door and while we're on the front porch my mom starts in on my wife. I dont even remember what she said. I told my mom to leave hr out of it but she kept going. She shoved her finger in my wifes face and started going off on her about whatever she could.

I stood in between them. I warned my mom to stop. My wife is pretty level headed and didn't even respond to my mom, but my mom just would not let up.

Finally, I had just had it. I told my wife to go wait in the car. I pushed my mom back in the house, closed the door behind us and locked it.

I grabbed my mom by the arms and shook the hell out of her and screamed at her that if she ever spoke to my wife that way again I would end her worthless life with my bare goddamn hands. I remember the feel of her arms in my hands. This 50-something year old pill-popping, alcoholic chain smoker. She was so light and fragile. I could have snapped her right in half.

I dragged her into her bedroom and threw her onto her bed. She landed and her head smacked against the wall and she winced in pain. When I saw the look of pain on her face, I was suddenly concerned that I had really hurt her. I left the house and sat in the car with my wife for a minute. Once I had calmed down. I went back inside and tried to talk to my mom. She wouldnt talk to me, but saw that she was OK and I left. My mom and I are better now. She keeps trying to reach out and form some sort of relationship, but Im just not interested. She will always be that drunken manipulative conflict-loving hate-mongering monster.