It occurs to me that some families are like the former Yugoslavia. Remember the Sarajevo Olympics? The sportscasters did features about the various ethnic groups living in harmony and peace. With the fall of the dictator Tito everything came unglued. Ethnic tensions, old hurts and hates surfaced and turned into brutal war. Recognize this dynamic in your family? Dominating parent, unhappy children unable to express what they really feel, parent becomes incapacitated or dies, sibling discord erupts in a big way. I was just wondering.
I noticed at work that when we had a boss we hated, the workers stuck together and supported each other. When a nicer new boss arrived, there was less of a team feeling, because we no longer had a common enemy.
I sometimes wonder if, after my mom is gone, if that will be the end of the rest of the family, at least her descendants, having any contact with me. I will leave it up to them for many reasons I won't go into, here...but I will live in the same house and probably will not sell it in my lifetime so it will be in their court. If they want to keep in touch with me, they will know how to do so. And if they don't keep in touch, I will know it is because they didn't want to, since I won't be missing in action or hard to find.
Which is kind of good, at least from my viewpoint...no one has to make awkward excuses or make up reasons why or why not. They can just stay away or keep in touch as each of them wishes. I am game either way. It would be nice if they consider me family after mom's gone...but if they don't...I won't be feeling anything new that I have not felt all my life, already.