Please reply to the two posts below. The due date is Thursday, May 23.

Joy

My sister and I have always had a complicated relationship. I’m the firstborn child and she’s two years behind me. She was born with a congenital, genetic disorder (Turner’s Syndrome) which has affected her, and our immediate family, her whole life. For many years of our childhood, my mom (especially) and dad spent a lot of their time caring for her demanding needs, so I learned early on to be extremely self-sufficient and independent. While these traits have become assets of mine in adulthood, it wasn’t until young adulthood where I started to notice I carried resentment toward her because of all of the time, attention, care, and concern my parents gave to her. This may sound selfish, but these were the feelings I was experiencing despite knowing in many ways, she could not help her condition, nor the needs her condition entailed.

I also felt that due to her condition, she was conditioned to rely on others to support her and take care of her so she would oftentimes complain or demand for a need (or a want, from my perception) to be met by myself or others. I grew tired of what I felt like were unnecessary and entitled demands on her part, so a few years ago I wrote her a letter and explained to her how I was feeling. Long story short, it did not go over well. This was also in the midst of my father dying, so both of us were already emotionally spent and neither had the bandwidth to consider or tend to one another’s needs. Because of this perfect storm, I felt like I needed some space from her and the whole situation, so I distanced myself from her.

About a month ago, I received a text message from her (which was lengthy, like a letter), where she opened the door for our healing relationship to start taking place, again. I’m attaching images of our conversation for reference because they were so impactful to me and just paint a better picture of that healing than me telling the story. Needless to say, I’m excited and hopeful for what is to come between us.

Weston

When I was a young kid there was a period of time where some of my family didn’t get along. Being a kid during this time I never understood why some of my aunts and uncles and my grandparents didn’t talk and why we had separate family gatherings  with only half the family. I remember being upset by this and frustrated that I didn’t get to play with all my cousins. To this day I’m still not sure why my family didn’t talk for a period of time and don’t wish to know. I remember everyone getting along with my parents and family and my parents playing a big role in restoring the relationship. 

As a kid I remember being so excited when I was able to spend time with all my cousins at the same time again. Fast forwarding to today everyone in my family gets along and has a great relationship with one another. This has been such a gift being able to have all my family love and support each other. Even as a young kid I recognized and understood how challenging it is to have a broken family. I praise God that he was able to work through my parents and help restore the relationships between my family members.

Joy

            My sister and I have always had a complicated relationship. I’m the firstborn child and she’s two years behind me. She was born with a congenital, genetic disorder (Turner’s Syndrome) which has affected her, and our immediate family, her whole life. For many years of our childhood, my mom (especially) and dad spent a lot of their time caring for her demanding needs, so I learned early on to be extremely self-sufficient and independent. While these traits have become assets of mine in adulthood, it wasn’t until young adulthood where I started to notice I carried resentment toward her because of all of the time, attention, care, and concern my parents gave to her. This may sound selfish, but these were the feelings I was experiencing despite knowing in many ways, she could not help her condition, nor the needs her condition entailed.

            I also felt that due to her condition, she was conditioned to rely on others to support her and take care of her so she would oftentimes complain or demand for a need (or a want, from my perception) to be met by myself or others. I grew tired of what I felt like were unnecessary and entitled demands on her part, so a few years ago I wrote her a letter and explained to her how I was feeling. Long story short, it did not go over well. This was also in the midst of my father dying, so both of us were already emotionally spent and neither had the bandwidth to consider or tend to one another’s needs. Because of this perfect storm, I felt like I needed some space from her and the whole situation, so I distanced myself from her.

            About a month ago, I received a text message from her (which was lengthy, like a letter), where she opened the door for our healing relationship to start taking place, again. I’m attaching images of our conversation for reference because they were so impactful to me and just paint a better picture of that healing than me telling the story. Needless to say, I’m excited and hopeful for what is to come between us.