"Mum used to hide love letters from my boyfriends and put me down. Now I understand that she was a Polish immigrant forced to settle in Chicago. She was jealous of the freedom life gave me"

This quote by Ruby Wax speaks with the generational differences in between her and her mother. Ruby's mother was a Polish immigrant who needed to settle in Chicago, and was most likely not paid for the exact same flexibilities that Ruby had. This likely caused her to be jealous of Ruby's life, and her efforts to control Ruby's life were likely her way of attempting to safeguard her. By hiding love letters from Ruby's sweethearts and putting her down, her mom was likely attempting to keep her from making the exact same errors she had made. In hindsight, Ruby was able to comprehend her mom's actions and forgive her for them.