Told my brother I'd never speak to him again after he backed out of our parents' care plan

For two years he promised to help with dad's doctor visits every Tuesday. Then he just stopped answering calls for three straight weeks. I was ready to cut him off for good but then my therapist pointed out he's been struggling with his own depression since his divorce. She said sometimes people don't bail on you they bail on themselves. So I asked him flat out if he needed help instead of yelling and he actually broke down and admitted he couldn't handle seeing dad decline. We ended up switching his role to handling finances from home and it's been working for six months now. Has anyone else had a relationship actually get better after you almost torched it?

3 comments

3 Comments

emery29015d ago

Used to be all about burning bridges myself. Thought cutting people off was the only way to protect your peace. Then my cousin flaked on helping me move apartments last summer and I was ready to never talk to her again. Turned out she was hiding a gambling problem and was ashamed to admit she'd lost her truck payment money. We worked out a deal where she just paid for the movers instead and now we actually talk way more than before. Sometimes the people who let you down are drowning and don't know how to say it.

hannah32016d ago

Oh for crying out loud. So you didn't actually cut him off, you just needed a good cry and a chore chart. That's nice and all, but where's the drama? I was ready to read about some real family fireworks and you gave us a happy ending. Next time maybe just scream into a pillow for ten minutes before you start rearranging the deck chairs.

dixon.james15d ago

My brother literally started crying too after reading that chart you posted @hannah320, what is in that thing?