You'll be ok honey! Just follow through on your decision not to associate with her. Maybe you'll have to go through an embarrassing hearing, but she's not going to attack you in a court room. Afterward, it's over. You can move on. You can do it!

Hunny for these kind of people it is always ONLY about THEM.

Walk away; I understand your fear and loathing; but you are an adult now and you can stand up for yourself (your not that frightened kid you need to keep reminding yourself that). You can make the choice to not have anything further to do with your "mother" (I use the term lightly).

You husband is right; on her deathbed she will be alone and blaming her daughters for not being there and will still not accept the simple fact that her actions have caused her children to disassociate themselves from her.

This is typical behaviour for that kind of person; it is NEVER their fault but ALWAYS someone elses... She will try to convince anyone who will listen that she did everything she did out of love for you and concern for you and that she was only ever "doing her best".

Ignore it move on with your own life and put the spider behind you; never ever get caught back up in the web... and ALWAYS be aware that we (the products of these kinds of childhood) have to work extra hard at being a good and productive parent because we were never shown what good parenting is.... Finding that balance is very delicate.

Seek advice and help if you feel you are "losing it"..

I would personally get another opinion for a different attorney. In my line of work, I see people get protection orders over the craziest, little things. If the Judge sees that you are truly scared of this woman and you have a valid reason to be, then he'll likely grant it. If nothing else, if the Judge decides to grant her request, you and your husband can always move. Nothing says you have to still reside in the same town or city she is in. If she attempts to contact you in the future, always keep a record. Rather it be letters, phone calls, etc. I wish you the best of luck.

It depends on what the standard is for granting a protection order and it varies. In my state, a ppo cannot be ordered unless one of two things happens: a. a particularly violent act that would lend to the fear that someone might retaliate and harm again, or b. a long continuous history of harassing behavior. There may not be either of those things present here and an isolated incident (no matter how upsetting) may not be good enough for the judge. If you don't show up to prove the allegations (unless there is a statute that says otherwise) the court will just dismiss it. Civil cases don't have the same obligations as criminal cases so there is a good possibility that nothing will come out of you being absent from court, other than the protection order being dismissed for lack of evidence. It may be cathartic for you to be there to tell the judge that this woman terrorized you for years and you just want her to leave you alone. There is almost no chance that evidence would be considered because it happened a long time ago, but maybe even your mother needs to hear it. Truthfully though, if it has you this upset, the reality is, it's probably not in your best interests to go forward because the mental stress is too much to bear. If she conintues to harass or contact you, however, then you might have a stronger case the next time around.