Hi Kitty
Your mother sounds like a very special lady (who has a special daughter).
Through our recovery, as we progress slowly, little "epiphanies" or "enlightenments" happen and when they do, we think "Why did it take me so long to see that?". It is because we learn the lessons slowly and each piece we learn happens in its own time.
It's like reading a book. We can read the synopsis on the cover and think "oh this is for me", but we read the book one word, one page and one chapter at a time. For a while the plot thickens, and then it all starts to make sense and we wonder why we didn't figure it out earlier in the book. It is because we didn't have the information or experience earlier.
You sound like your "book of life" is unfolding well, and things are starting to make sense now to you.
Keep us posted. I love happy endings.