Birthday

Today is my sister, Alyssa's birthday. She is 27. I am 33. Alyssa and I have never been particularly close. I do love her and I wish her a happy birthday filled with love. We weren't real good at expressing love in our family.
We grew up in chaos, 6 kids, a dog, a cat, some fish, and an angry, controlling, hyper-sensitive mother.
My mom is the dictionary definition of co-dependent. She expected everybody else, especially my dad to make her happy. She blamed him for everything and unhappily she passed that trait onto her daughters.
It's good that I know in my head anyway that no one else is responsible for my happiness, it's up to me. It's good to know that I shouldn't blame another for my unhappiness. These are good things to know, but harder things to believe.
At least I know them.