Reply #75: Sadly, she probably loves him very much. I've seen kids who have been sexually and/or physically

[No Elephants]

abused by a parent or parent figure (mom's live in bf who's been around since the kid was an infant, for example). After they've been separated from the parent, most kids want very much to see the parent, at least when the kid is as young as 4. The parent has been the source of survival for the kid, the one souce of good things, as well as bad things.

It's like every dysfunctional relationship you've had in your life rolled up into one, then raised to the tenth power. The kid often accepts that it is his or her fault, and if they could just do better.....

The hope that it will finally be better next time is powerful.