Blessed these people were not your friends and I can’t believe how they acted. I have never had that happen. I have had people be crappy or we just outgrew each other. I have always been willing to make friends but also willing to let them go if it’s not working. I am much closer to a few of my friends than my 2 siblings.
These were people that were lifelong friends. I was widowed quite young. Also, they all knew we had worked hard together to build a comfortable life and retirement. No, we were not wealthy but we were living a good life in my opinion. We had a nice home, cars and had money put away for college. We never had to struggle paycheck to paycheck, we could do or buy most anything we wanted. The point being is we recognized what was a want and what was a need. By living that lifestyle we could go on vacations every few years.
Most of our social life involved family. My husband came from a very large family. We spent most of our time with them. Sundays were always at Mom and Dads, in the winter it was football, in the summer it was pool parties and barbq's. Extended family and friends were always there. I loved my inlaws, still do but they have since passed. FIL died way too young but still the family gathered. My husband died, then a week later his Mom.
At that point everything stopped and I became somehow on the blacklist for family gatherings. This was all my SIL doing. She was angry when Mom died that my husband was listed as her power of attorney, then his brother, and her last. She was angry that Mom did not trust her. I had to go to court and testify in court that the brother was 2nd in charge and witness all the signatures as Mom did not use an attorney. She called me when Mom died, what did I know about her bank accounts etc. I told her what I knew but that they were locked since her brother died. She would have to wait to have the will go thru court. The funny part of this is she did not need money, she made 200K a year and knew her folks did not have money. I do not see all of the family anymore. Not by choice on my part but everyone is afraid of my SIL.
So, as a word of warning, even if they are family you have to be very sure of who you put in charge of your medical directive, POA and executor of your will. Make sure this person is strong enough to follow your wishes.
.
