Powerful question for this thread, Deborah.
This is harder to write about than I thought it would be. I knew I would want to cry, but I didn't think I would want to stop writing.
I didn't have any bad memories of my mothers from my remembered two human lives before this one. That's what upsets me so much. There's no bad feeling there at all. Except that of course whenever I think of Beckey's mother, I feel guilty. I guess Moms can cause guilt trips no matter when or where you think of them. But it is also related to my feeling at the time that I had a hand in directly taking one of her other children from her... and myself as well... we didn't have many years together, but she didn't die young, I ran away.

She sends to me about how overjoyed she was and how precious I was to her when I was born. I see my face as a tiny infant, being held right after being born, that mother-child connection.

Before that life, there was a mother to the mentally challenged incarnation I had, who would let me play with pincushions and pins as it kept me busy for long periods of time; I felt safe and pleasant with her. I also remember her presence behind me as I gazed for long periods of time at a lit oil lamp. In my current lifetime, my mother let me play with pincushions and pins as a toddler, as I was always safe with them and I loved the little push it took to get the pin through the cloth. The only time this was a problem was one time when I stuck some pins in her bed.

I have always loved pincushions with pins. I don't know if my Out-West incarnation's mother died young, or before he left the house or whatever. I have no memory of that. This is much easier to talk about than Beckey's mother. She did not die young, yet I feel so bad about the whole thing.
My mother this time around is an everyone's-mom kind of mother, responding to any person in distress, always with an open door. I can be difficult to deal with as being held does not appeal to me much of the time, and I can't agree with her on many topics, so she gets disapproving of me. But she loves me. We do spend time together often, and I feel supported in many ways even if she doesn't want to hear about what's most important to me (I believe this is because it would just be too much for her to handle-- she's very sensitive) and she has different priorities and can be hurtful (as can I). She and my father this time around were pretty well-equipped to handle me and my siblings. I can be bitter and difficult. I want to be a little more open, but it's hard to do so in a very forgiving manner. Makes me feel too vulnerable; I fear people so that's a problem. But I think that she took dibs on me. Like she'd take dibs on that cute little soul as her first kid this time around. Since I came from Ohio and she from Wisconsin, we were part of a group coming back to the Midwest this time (although I was born in Washington, D.C.). Both the past incarnation of hers and her current one were born in Wisconsin. My mother this time was Bunny Berigan in the past life relevant to this that I know of (I'm sure there are more, important lives as well, things that have developed her soul). She herself does not confirm or deny this.
This being a difficult topic doesn't keep me quiet for long, apparently. These are interesting stories you all are posting, so many of them full of such loss, both in this life and other lives. Mothers really touch a key part of our selves, bad or good. I hope everyone can come to healthy loving resolution with mothers and children in their lives past and present, whether the children or mothers are in their lives or not. Gina and others, it is a blessing to us when you share your losses and experiences with us.