This is a great story. Feeling independent is very important to those who have suffered repeated failures of trusting people who don't really care. I wpupd rather suffer the pain of great effort, even if stressful, over trusting the wrong people (that's even more stressful). There is a strength in being independent but sometimes those who want toxic or co-dependent relationships don't like it. I think the word "parent" and "mother", "father" are two different things. Anyone can be a mother or father and maybe never even see their children, let alone raise them, but a parent is different. Emotional neglect in children of whatever kind, often leads to similar "familar" patterns in adulthood (trauma bond), which creates toxic relationships. The more independent we become, the better we can be at identifying and avoiding early on, these familiar patterns. It becomes easier to rely on oneself completely.