Sheesh!

I don't want to hijack LB's thread with my own family drama but, as I was typing my reply, my sister called and gave me an update on the continuing saga of my family. Man, oh man, they are screwy. Minor vent coming...

My brother and his wife used to live in Georgia in a neighborhood near my parents. Two years or so ago, they moved to Bass Lake in California where they promptly sponged off of his wife's multi-millionaire parents; they were bought a 3-story, 4 bedroom house on the lake, handed a business that they would have to bust their humps to work it throughout tourist season for four months out of the year in order to close up shop and pay for their bills the other eight months. Suffice it to say, they didn't keep their end of the bargain. Which resulted in a... conflict of interest.

Meanwhile, on the east coast, my parents had decided to sell their 7 bedroom, 5 bathroom, 2 office home in order to move to Florida. My parents moved before selling and, upon making a bid in Venice, discovered that my brother had helped their credit take a nose-dive by not making his house payments in Georgia before he moved. They had trouble buying a home but something did eventually work out.

Fast forward to this past summer. My brother moved his family back to Georgia where they are now living in... you guessed it... my parents' ginormous house for free. And my mom now wants to take the house off the market so they can keep living there.

Pardon my language but whiskey tango foxtrot??? I am over here working my patootie off supporting my family, have never asked my parents for a thing... and I am the bad seed of the family? What is up with that???

For those of you who've been here long enough, remember the whole drama of me not knowing what to do about this business of finding out about my sister? Thank you, each and every one of you who encouraged me to give her a chance. I would be absolutely lost in the insanity of my family if I didn't have her. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Don't let it get to you. Keep living your life and hold your head high as everything you have is what you have worked for. Those who don't work hard for things don't value them nearly as much.

Sounds like your parents are probably good people at heart (I'm guessing here?), but sounds like they are enabling your brother, and he is taking every advantage.

The squeaky wheel gets the oil and all that, I bet your brother is a good squeaker.


Even in my own family I have noticed the kid that causes or has the most problems get the most attention, while the kid who is doing what he/she is supposed to doesn't ever require much attention and often doesn't get it.

It's a shame. ((hugs)) to you.

eh, it's a little more involved than that, unfortunately, Jo. My mother has Narcissistic Personality Disorder and, for her, life is just not living if it's not all about her. I'm not sure what my brother's deal is but, for as long as I can remember, he's never stuck with anything for longer than a year or two. I'm even talking high school -- he went to three different high schools (without my parents ever moving) because he didn't like this one or couldn't follow that one's rules, etc. etc. Anything that takes work and compromise with others is just not worth doing, in his opinion. So my mom and my brother feed off of each other and pat each other on the back for not conforming to the rest of the world. It's a little unnerving to watch and sad, too.

My sister and I were talking about the weird mix of emotions that comes with being related to affluent family members with more issues than Ladies Home Journal -- you envy them for all of the "stuff" they have... it's hard not to! But the "stuff" comes at a heavy price. She feels the same way I do and, because we refuse to be manipulated by money, we've been branded the "bad seed."

I understand how you feel. :( I still get resentment over the disparity of assistance between myself and my younger sister.

How old are your parents? Do you know if they are going to "sell" it to them or do they think they will get money for rent?

If your parents are over 60, I think you should have a talk with them. They were clearly taken advantage of by the sibling not paying the mortgage payment in the first place. How do they know something like this will not happen again? :confused: