the hard swing back to our family’s abusive ways is always more painful after a time of being idealized. These sparse moments of counterfeit kindness are powerful enough to rekindle our hope in the security and love we want from our family. This type of toxic family dynamic causes us to live in hope and in fear. We can easily become addicted to our feelings of hope, which lead us to relax and feel things are starting to turn for the better. But as soon as hope seems it might settle in, we find ourselves beaten up and discarded once again. The repeated and sneaky nature of this type of
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