Patching It Up

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For Fran Morgan, 58, who had not spoken to her daughter Ginger, 38, for nearly 15 years, it was the chance to help her child out of a financial bind that brought them back together. They stopped talking when Ginger, at age 15, moved in with her father after her parents' divorce. "My mom was an alcoholic at the time, and we just never got along," Ginger says. But Ginger, at 29, found herself alone in Dallas, unemployed, nearly broke and almost suicidal. To her surprise, the one person from whom she wanted help was her mother. She asked Fran to lend her money. Fran, now sober, suggested that her daughter move in with her in Houston. They fought at first, but with the help of a psychotherapist, they slowly began rebuilding their rocky relationship. "I had to examine my own behavior and admit the mistakes that i made along the way," Fran says. "I'm very careful not to do anything that would reminD Ginger of the past and the tough times we had."

Though mother and daughter now live separately, they not only get together for movies, lunches and shopping jaunts but also work side by side in Fran's copy-machine company in Houston. "Our relationship is stronger than i ever dreamed it could be, which means so much to me at this point in my life," Fran says. "We've become more than just mother and daughter; we're actually really good friends."

And that's what healing old wounds is all about.