Carolyn Hax: ‘What should adults do when they don’t like their parents?’

Lest that sound cynical: A lot of us like our families anyway, or have come up with inspiring ways to make it work regardless. Love, for example, which is different from liking them. Also gratitude, duty, culture, reciprocity, community, security, utility, respect, sympathy — plus the commonalities I mentioned earlier, plus whatever else you can fit under the umbrella of shared history. Family members who might never have chosen each other as friends can find emotional sustenance in familiarity alone.