Dear Prudence,
My family immigrated to the U.S. when I was young. My mom is almost 80, never learned English, and doesn’t drive. My dad did everything for her until he died last year. I am now her driver, translator, therapist, and companion. I am coming apart dealing with her. She is completely dependent on me. We also have a language barrier, since English is my first language and I only speak her language minimally. She calls me several times a day, and I take her to all her appointments and run her errands with her. I realize that she’s lonely and needs someone to talk to. A retirement community would be great for her, but she wouldn’t be able to communicate with anyone there. What do I do? I’m becoming resentful, because I feel she was not much of a mother to me growing up, and now I’m burdened with being everything to her. She drains me to the point that I dread seeing or speaking to her.