Mark Jason Williams and his mom often butted heads on two issues: She was uncomfortable when he brought up anything about being gay, and he was tired of her incessantly talking about how he survived childhood cancer. By the age of 40, Mark had reached his wit’s end. He stopped pleading for her to change and instead proposed a $100 bet. But the real change in their relationship came when Mark broke his end of the bargain. Today, Mark and his mother, Betty Williams, tell their story.
Anna Martin: From The New York Times,
I'm Anna Martin.
[MUSIC]
Today we have a story about
how our closest relationships can slowly grow apart.
It starts with little moments
where you say the wrong thing or you're not listening closely,
and this distance creeps in.
And then one day you're sitting across from them at dinner
and they feel so far away,
and you're thinking,
how did we get here?
Mark Jason Williams wrote an essay about his relationship with his mom, Betty.
Mark was very sick as a kid.
He went through painful medical procedures and long hospital stays,
and his mom was there for all of it.
They became inseparable.
But as Mark got older, that distance crept in
until finally he couldn't take it anymore.
So he did something about it that raised the stakes of their relationship.