My mother was a diagnosed schizophrenic and my father an alcoholic. I only knew the term "dysfunctional" when I reached adulthood and realized that my family situation could probably be termed as such. Starting from when I was only a one-month old baby, I was raised by a nanny whom I affectionately called "Grandma", up to the age of 16. Details were fuzzy but the reason given was that my parents couldn't handle 5 children when I was born. (In fact, they probably couldn't even take care of themselves.)
My parents would pay my nanny about $150 when I was young, and that increased to about $300 every month, oftentimes late in payments. And that was about it. No visits, no calls, nothing, except to sign my yearly school report card. I knew my nanny helped chip in to pay for my expenses. I was constantly reminded every Chinese ......