Generational Trauma

My uncle posted a picture of his grandparents. I downloaded it and I'll keep it around, but it's strange to me. My great-grandmother was abusive to my mother. She is one of the main reasons my mother was as messed up as she was. 

My mother's pain warped my childhood and warped my brother's. I try to fight against this and I am sure he does as well, but every day, something hits me that pulls me back to that hell. And I can see, in my brother's children, how these patterns affect them as well. 

So here is this picture of this woman, a woman I met as a baby but do not remember meeting, and the things she did are affecting the people around me. Even now. Years and years later. 

Our actions have ripples. We all know that. I think sometimes we don't realize how far-reaching those ripples can be. It's something we should think about more often.