The world is a tough place in which to live. Human beings are, for the most part, helpful and caring, but personalities complicate relationships. What sometimes happens is that people end up being unkind, and some people are unaware of the damage they cause. What’s even worse is when they are aware of the damage they cause and they do hurtful things anyway. Particularly, the dynamics in sibling relationships can be especially complex. People carry tons of baggage with them throughout life, and we create baggage with other people if we’ve spent large chunks of our lives with them. For this reason, our family can love us and also hurt us like no one else can.
Amy Dickinson writes the popular advice column “Ask Amy” both for her own blog and for the Denver Post. People write into her column every week seeing advice on everything from marriage to divorce to raising children, and yes, navigating complex familial relationships, including those between sisters and brothers. One woman calling herself “Sad Sister” wrote in to Amy’s column to ask Amy how to make her “weird sister” understand that she just wasn’t welcome anymore. I wish I weren’t qualified to write this article, but like many people who come from large families, I have my own horror stories I could share about complicated relationships. Read this letter below, and be sure to check out Amy’s advice.
Being excluded is painful and the people who are doing it should know better. If you grew up with a sister, you know exactly how to hurt her and you should avoid doing so at all costs. For most people, the individuals they will always be able to count on are their siblings, especially sisters. It should never be hard to choose a side in this scenario, and you should throw your support 100 percent behind your sisters.
