I recently briefly dated a very nice lady who in her childhood lost her mother and then was abandoned by her father. She and her sisters received financial support from him, but were essentially left on their own. Wow! She has worked with therapists and all that, but early in our dating experience she still exhibited behaviors related to fear of abandonment. It is such a powerful emotional wound. It cuts to the core of one’s belief of whether we matter, even whether we deserve to matter. That is the essence of shame. Everyone deserves to matter. Sometimes though, you just can’t shake the feeling of shame.