You'll never know (The Silence, Part 2)

I'm mad at you. You probably already knew that. Yes, it's partly because of some wrong choices you've made, but that's not all. You'll probably never know just how deep your lies and betrayal have hurt us, the ones you used to call "family".

  -You might never know that, because you chose to send secret messages to someone, your mom now struggles with distrust when she sees us texting for long periods.
  -You don't see it after you leave, but at least one of us, your siblings, struggles with not understanding WHY you left. They almost wish you'd stop coming by or calling because they're tired of seeing Mom's tears after you leave. They hate seeing her sad or upset.
  -Because you have betrayed their trust, our parents now struggle with trusting us to make decisions. We don't want them to be hurt anymore than they already are, so we try to not create any problems or arguments.
  -But when we do, it's mostly because they have begun to implement some strict guidelines we don't think are fair or age-approriate (honestly, they should have been implemented a long time ago, but it's too late now). You might say " Move out. " But moving away doesn't always fix things.
  -Because of you, our family is now stronger, more united. Yes, we still have fights and the little ones still get on our nerves sometimes. But we know who has our backs and will be there when we need help. That's what a FAMILY does - defends one another, and helps pick one up if/when they fall.

So why didn't you come to us for prayers, help, or advice when this first started? We don't do things perfectly. But, we never claimed to be a perfect family. We're sorry you feel like we don't care. Its hard to care after the umpteenth text is ignored for days before answering with a lame excuse about phone trouble. Meanwhile, that sibling knows you're lying because you've been texting another sibling about something else. It hurts.

And, if you have a problem with one of us, please tell us, not Mom or Dad. They don't deserve your anger, or guilt, whatever you want to call it. Tell us, whether over the phone or face-to-face.

Katelyn