@pandora_parrot - We were all very worried about you. Your family was being psychotically cruel and we could see the pain it was causing you.

I'd have to deal with something similar a few years later, although not with cruelty, but with "drama." Two people who decided that creating drama for me and a lover was going to be that year's entertainment.

They destroyed my relationship, my trust in many of my friends, and when it was all over, they moved on to my no-longer love and fucked with them until they got bored.

I no longer put up with people who seem to just stir shit, I cut them off.

But for you - they were family. And I can see why you hung on for so long, even though it took a very heavy toll on you.