estrangement

Family

My parents came to visit for the Thanksgiving holiday. This is different from most previous years, where we traveled with the kids and tried to see everyone on both sides of the family in four days. That was exhausting and stressful, but it was also fun to catch up and see everyone for the holiday.Continue reading “Family”

Dates

Some dates just seem to leap off the page–happy dates and sad dates. We have collective dates like this–September 11, for example. Yesterday was one of those dates for me–my estranged brother’s birthday. I couldn’t stop my thoughts from flitting to him throughout the day. I didn’t necessarily have any associated feelings–I didn’t feel angerContinue reading “Dates”

Estrangement II

As I was recently wrestling with feelings surrounding my brother’s estrangement from me, I realized that estrangement has permeated our family for as long as I can remember. After my paternal grandmother’s death more than a decade ago, my paternal grandfather went off the rails and refused to talk to anyone in our family. HeContinue reading “Estrangement II”

My brother and I are estranged from one another. This is a difficult thing to type, since I have been in denial of this fact for a long time. I have spent years thinking that he would come around someday and we would at least be in touch again. But, the last time I sawContinue reading “Estrangement”