Family Estrangements....the pain of it all!

Georgiahoosier

New Member
Location
Georgia
It seems that my family (immediate and even extended) has so many estrangements going on! Between siblings, children, even grandchildren. It is extremely hurtful, and makes family get togethers uncomfortable to say the least. I have been the victim more often than not with a son who doesn't hesitate to get up in my face. (in my home,in front of his wife and kids) After the last big one about a year and a half ago, I'm not allowed to see his kids. That's my punishment for not tolerating him screaming at me in my home. I wish we could be a "normal" family, whatever that is!
 

I'm sorry for you GH. Family rifts are so very painful and not being allowed to see grandchildren must hurt terribly.

Seems like you're all kind of used to this discord to some degree, but I guess it gets old at a certain point.

But welcome and enjoy our humor section for a lift.

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My immediate family is pretty close so far. But my Dad's family hated my Mother because my parents got married when they were only 16yrs old. So when my brother and me and my sister came along they hated us too. We were never invited to have dinner at my grandparents even though all the rest of the family was.We would visit on Christmas and all the grandchildren would get presents but not us. Now years later most of my cousins don't speak to one another. In each family they turn against one another. I don't know how my Mom tolerated it,but she did for my Dad's sake.
 
My goodness Sassy that's pretty weird to take out their resentment on you innocent kids.

I have to admit they were weird. My Dad had one brother and 5 sisters. I had 15 cousins on that side of the family. If ever we got invited to an advent like a wedding and any of my Dad's kids got invited ,which was seldom,we weren't allowed to sit with cousins we could only sit with adults. Thinking back on it,I admire my Mom for never keeping my Dad away from the family. If she had said something about them He would have stayed away. He worshiped the ground my Mom walked on,so he would have tossed them all away . In later years I did become friends with 2 of my boy cousins. Of course their sisters stopped seeing them also,so they understood what my family went through.
 
I must be the odd one
Anybody estranges me, it’s pretty much a relief

My lady is just opposite

Anyway, something somewhat pertinent I put together a few years back, and, heh, posted here more than once
(use the scroll feature if it’s a bore);


Anybody got close to near to close relatives that seem to live a cut above everone around them including you?

These are kin, that if you had the choice, you’d pick for Hitler’s cronies, their lives ending by the hand of Idi Amin’s pals. It’s a dream you have anyway.

These are not necessarily smug folks, as they’ve been raised to be proper with kindly remarks saved for the mentally disadvantaged (you), but still, when in conversation, you seem to come off as a curiosity, a toy that should have been discarded but kept because, well, it’s been passed down from aged family members.

These are your kinfolks that you wish weren’t.
But there you are, at their place.
And there they are, choosing the correct fork with mindless ease, while it dawns on you that you not only have one, but both elbows on the table.
This felonious act is like discovering, while you’re waiting for the bus, you have no pants on.

Yeah, there they are, wittily chatting about current events, glancing your way, hoping you will say something so they can have a good mutual laugh, jumping on your blurted fractured words like the ravenous hyenas they are.

But you know this, so you amiably reach for your seventh dinner role, because you know the lone knife is for butter…pretty sure.

And there’s your sister, blending nicely, and even your little brother….cute little bastard, seems to be one of them, along with mom and dad, all exchanging quips and witticisms.

So you begin to feel a tad self-conscious, and thirsty, since your fourth glass of juice has managed to cause that loaf of dinner rolls to swell to the max in your twisted up stomach…

‘Why’d the moron throw the clock out the window?’

‘Whud he say?’

snicker giggle giggle giggle…….rising, swelling to a tidal wave of uproarious laughter.

‘I dunno, Gary, why did the moron do that (snarkle)?’

The beets look pale compared to you.

Only you are smiling, laughing sappily with them.

But, on the inside you’re envisioning Hitler’s storm troopers bashing down the door, and hauling everyone outside.

You are untouched, saved actually.
Later you stroll out to the gazebo where everyone is flailing away, hanging upside down.
You walk slowly by these relatives of yours, stopping in front of your cousin’s bobbing head.

‘TO EFFING SEE THE EFFING TIME EFFING FLY!!!!’

Later that day, sitting in the gazebo, finally with your own thoughts, you settle your mind with the calming resolution of just writing a book……..



So, you never had relatives like that, you say?

Me neither
 
I have a great relationship with my own family, but I've seen or heard nothing from my siblings for many years. This suits me fine - apart from having the same parents we had nothing in common with one another. If we met again (which is unlikely as I don't even know where they live) we would be strangers.

The worst case I came upon was one of my parent's neighbours. Their daughter committed the ultimate sin of marrying a Catholic. This was like selling your soul to Satan. Although they had a happy successful life, they were never allowed into her parent's house again. I don't condone such actions, but I do understand them.
 
Such a sad thing when access to children is used as a weapon. That happened in our family several years ago when my brother and his wife divorced. Thankfully, the courts didn't buy her lies, and the kids (now teens) are beginning to see her true colors.
 
Yes, it's amazing how petty people can be, and how bad feeling can be kept alive many years after the event. My father didn't attend his mother's funeral because my mother was due to give birth, and he didn't want to leave her alone while he travelled north. His family have never forgiven him. My own daughter hasn't spoken to me for many years, but I don't know why. We didn't have a row or anything. I suspect someone told her something about me, which she believed without giving me the chance to explain myself.
 
Family estrangements are far more common than people imagine. We are conditioned to believe otherwise by fictional tales of perfect families in books, movies and TV shows. Real life relationships aren't always pretty or smooth.

What always surprises me is how many people believe themselves to be victims of somebody else's choice of estrangement. We each bear substantial responsibility for how our relationships work out, whether we want to admit it or not. I say that as someone who chose estrangement from one family member and was cut off by another. I know the hows and whys of both, and what part I played in where we wound up.
 
Family estrangements are far more common than people imagine. We are conditioned to believe otherwise by fictional tales of perfect families in books, movies and TV shows. Real life relationships aren't always pretty or smooth.

What always surprises me is how many people believe themselves to be victims of somebody else's choice of estrangement. We each bear substantial responsibility for how our relationships work out, whether we want to admit it or not. I say that as someone who chose estrangement from one family member and was cut off by another. I know the hows and whys of both, and what part I played in where we wound up.
Hmmm. With respect, not always. I refuse to be the family sin eater/scapegoat. That would be the price of a relationship with my son. Regretfully, I decline.
 
It doesn't bother me that my family didn't like me. They were conformists and competitive. I knew when I was 5 that I had to find out truths about existence, while most people accepted what they were told. My daughter says everything I did was wrong, and won't see me. I remember us having fun and learning together. My girlfriend of 16 years has decided to keep me around. I serve her, clean, and do the things she likes. We now sleep in separate beds, though.
 
As a child I was surrounded by loving relatives. I guess there were occasional spats but if so they were not monumental and didn't trickle down to the kids. Kids as weapons is never acceptable. I guess we were lucky...
 
I’ve seen the worse of the worse. One case, a brother shoots and kills his brother because he had an affair with his wife.

Another case, a son kills his parents because they wouldn’t allow him to go to a party.

Another case, a daughter kills her mother because she wouldn’t let her daughter date an older man. She was 15, he was 24.

There have been others.
 
...I wish we could be a "normal" family, whatever that is!

A social worker friend of mine always has this to say to say about "normal families".

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They don't exist, but your situation is very hurtful. Have you considered counseling? Even going by yourself, it can help you learn how to set healthy boundaries and make sure you're not doing things to escalate when things get heated. Coming from a background with a lot of family tension on multiple fronts, you may not see in yourself unhealthy patterns you've learned in that environment.
 
i live with my younger daughter and the oldest daughter lives right next door----she use to come over every evening --now she wont even talk to me or my youngest daughter and she wont answer her phone if we call.
 
i live with my younger daughter and the oldest daughter lives right next door----she use to come over every evening --now she wont even talk to me or my youngest daughter and she wont answer her phone if we call.

Do you know why? Is there any way to resolve things?
 


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