This paper presents a personal account of experiencing and reworking a relationship with an alcoholic mother, culling literary analogies from the author's and others' writings. The paper is a revised version of the keynote address delivered at the Center's 1991 Daughters and Mothers Colloquium. (note December 29,1999-This paper is published under the pen name Remi Lawrence but has been running in cat as Wendy Sanford with Wendy's knowledge).