My brother and I have never gotten along.
To give you an idea of what it was like for me while I was growing up, my brother regularly beat me up, pretended to be me on the phone to my friends, lied to our parents about his grades (even going as far as forging his report card), and took nude photos of a developmentally-delayed girl on our street (her parents found out about this). There was a lot of tension in our house because of my brother's antics. I felt a lot of pressure to be the Golden Child, and I was. My brother resented me for that.
My brother moved out when I was 14 and I was relieved. Over the years, whenever we got together at a family gathering, he was sullen and argumentative. He knew how to push my buttons and I allowed them to be pushed, so I decided to cut him out of my life, altogether. This lasted for at least ten years and was only broken when we attended our parents' 50th anniversary party. We were cordial to one another and then became FaceBook friends. Over the next few years, we would chat occasionally but I still kept my distance.
My brother was married and divorced twice and has a daughter with each wife. I am fairly close to his older daughter. She told me a lot of awful stories about him and called him a "terrible parent." Recently, this daughter got married. I know my brother was invited to the wedding but he did not show up. Both of his ex wives were there and I got an earful about what a selfish disappointment my brother is.
When I saw my parents the day after the wedding, I commented on my brother's absence. My parents have made excuses for my brother's behavior for years and years; this time was no exception. My mother said, "We're only hearing one side of the story." My blood started to boil but I said nothing.
Dear redditors, what, if anything, do you think I should do or say to my parents to make them question their excuse making when it comes to my brother? They are 79 and 82, respectively. Should I just not talk to them about him? Is it worth it for me to attempt a dialog?
TL;DR Should I talk to my parents about my brother or should I let sleeping dogs lie?
Submitted May 30, 2019 at 04:43PM by rellythrowy http://bit.ly/2XhhA4V
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