Different versions of ourselves

How many versions of you are there? In her magnificent book Breaking Night, author Liz Murray identifies five versions of her "ma."
1. Crazy Ma
2. Drugged and drunken Ma
3. Sober and nice Ma
4. "Check day" happy Ma
5. Pleasant, fresh-out-of-the-hospital Ma
Her favorite version of her ma was number five. She was her ma's caretaker. She was her ma's "punkin." It got me to thinking about how we all have different versions of ourselves, depending on the setting, or on who and what we are dealing with.

At age nine Liz realized that she could do something about her family's severe poverty. Unauthorized, she pumped gas at self-serve gas stations for tips. Then, at the same age, she bagged groceries for tips. She soon realized she could buy anything on the McDonald's menu, and support her family until the next disability check arrived. Her ma was legally blind, as well as being an addict.

If there is a better writer in America right now than Liz Murray, I don't know who it would be.