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My real mother is a survivor, very strong and respected by the people who know her, but our relationship is not easy - but then, it was never going to be.

All my life, I had this idea that if I could unravel the mystery that was my mother, then I could help save her. But it didn't really work. We were close, but she struggled with mental illness and alcoholism, and it was rough at times.

I'm a survivor - a living example of what people can go through and survive.

My dad died when I was three so my mom had to raise four kids on her own, and I think there's a part of me that pulls upon having watched my mom do that our whole lives. She had to make it work.

I don't consider myself a survivor; that's someone who has gone through something terrible.

Instead of joyfully looking forward to my birth, my mother began systematically preparing for her own death. She was fatalistic.

My mother had lots and lots of children who didn't survive.

I had to go on without my mother, even though I was suffering terribly, grieving her.

I'm just a regular mother who's trying to save lives and be the best human being I can be.