DEAR ABBY: My wife, "Yvonne," has been struggling with a painful issue most of her adult life. Her parents show no interest in her. This has been the case since she was young. Yvonne has continually reached out to them without success. Her mother calls maybe once a year and never sends anything for her birthday or Christmas. Her father is pretty much nonexistent.
This has been affecting my wife more and more as she gets older. She's 29 and a wonderful mother and wife, but every time she sees a mother and daughter spending time together on TV or in public, it makes her very sad. She always comments that she wishes she was like that with her mother. I have tried to console her the best I can, but it doesn't help much. What can I do to help her overcome this? -- HURTS FOR MY WIFE IN WARREN, MICH.
DEAR HURTS FOR MY WIFE: It appears you're doing all you can, but filling this hole in your wife's heart is more than a "civilian" can accomplish. She may need the help of a psychologist in order to repair the damage caused by her parents' neglect. Please suggest it to her because your wife may be more resilient than she thinks. I say this because she has been able to be an effective mother even though she had a poor role model to follow.