I am not the grudge-holding kind, but I am also not good with smiling and pretending things are okay when they are not. I don't see my sisters often-- my sense is, now I will see them even less. But life will go on, and I have so much to be happy about and grateful for. I do intend to send my niece and her husband a gift, just via their registry, to let my niece know I love her especially and that I care. All of this is informed by my own past as a survivor of abuse. I married in my early twenties, and my first husband tried to kill me and almost succeeded. He went to prison for the rest of his life for this and died there in 1997. I taught my children about abuse and battering, how to recognize it, how to avoid batterers. All of these things figure in so far as how things have unfolded in my family.
Well, anyway-- thanks again, Stilllearning. I am so thankful for your wise words. <3