Importance of Family

Over my lifetime...  at least so far, I have know several families many of which had 2-3 children while only a few had more than 3 children...  and, the general consensus of my thoughts were that most of these families (around 90-95% I would have to say) were CLOSELY TIED when the years between their ages were far apart or when they were close...  as family is family and that is more important than age difference.  However, I never knew or came into contact with any family where one sibling was substantially more wealthy than the other siblings.  Typically, each family were comprised of the HAVE and HAVE NOT siblings in various degrees of success but they were still all close.

This is in STARK CONTRAST to my siblings where my sister is much more successful that I was but mainly because she lived and worked in a State that paid much higher wages than the State in which I lived and worked...  so, we were relatively on the same playing field.

Our brother, on the other hand (8 or 12 years younger) quickly became a MILLIONAIRE and then a BILLIONAIRE and as he acquired more and more wealth, he wanted less and less to do with his two siblings...  not sure why, but I can speculate that not only were we beneath him but that he traveled in different INTELLECTUAL CIRCLES than we did, making it damn near impossible to have a conversation.

This SIBLING INDIFFERENCE extended to me personally when I was told I had experienced a heart attack, had cancer, then developed another cancer, and was later hospitalized with a STAPH infection...  his response was GOOD LUCK...  although, he did recommend a cardiac surgeon who inserted stints into my arteries so I did not have to have a triple bypass...  this was accomplished because he was on the BOARD of DIRECTORS of the hospital and MADE IT HAPPEN.

Other than that, for the last 12 years, I have only had minimal contact with my brother outside of a $50 gift card for my birthday and a $100 Christmas Present that I did not need.  He does not answer my phone calls, my texts, or my emails...  and, on those rare occasions where a text or an email is answered, it is usually less than 6 words and there IS NEVER A FOLLOWUP...

IRONICALLY, on his 50th birthday celebration,  he rented a library for 150 of his closest friends and invited me and my sister up for the party as well...  and as a parting gift for everyone, we were given a book by a Harvard Professor, curiously enough on the IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY...  My sister and I were invited as TOKENS because during the party and afterwards, he had nothing to do with us other than a QUICK thank you for coming hello.

During his son's wedding, we were treated the same way, except this time our mother was isolated with us.  The only time when we were really treated like family was when our father was alive...  and, I am sure that his behavior was for our father's benefit and not ours.

YES...  the family is important...  just not our family...  since those events, my sister has backed away from me...  or, I have backed away from her, as I am not totally sure other than the fact that we do not communicate anymore either, except when she wants to share what is going on in her family with us but never responds to our reply.

What it boils down to for me is that the only real person that I can count on outside of my wife, is myself and my faith...  and, whether or not that is sad is beside the point, since this is a fact of my life.