February 19, 2020:
I told her, "You know who you are, right? You're Cinderella."
The analogy's exact. Evil stepmother, two evil stepsisters, absent father. The wonderful man she eventually married, Christian, is the Handsome Prince. I'm the fairy godfather whose loyal intervention made the marriage possible.
What's the dynamic? Special needs child with addict mother, genetically disposed to addiction herself. Adopted by shallow brood of Evangelicals overwhelmed with sanctimony and selfishness. Omega dog: pack member the others are allowed to bully. Tyrant mother, sisters who resent her for the money which could have gone to them.
There is a father in the family but he's absent from the decisions. He knows perfectly well the injustices inflicted. But it's Mom who dictates, where in his fear of her and of losing her he agrees to the emotional abuse the others inflict. So that in practice his absence completes the analogy.
When I said this to her she sat down heavily in a chair with her mouth open, speechless.
What could she say? It's exact. She's Cinderella. She lives now in a faraway fairyland with the Handsome Prince. That part of the story is her happy ending.
Fuck the fucking stepfamily and every fucking thing they stand for.