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Relationships

Aibu to my sister

8 replies

XTina75 · 20/11/2017 14:37

My sister is 4 years older than me. When I was 20, I married my now DH and we have 3 children together and we have been together for 8 years. I have two brothers, one is younger than me and married and the other recently got engaged.

My sister was in a long term relationship with a lovely guy but unfortunately he had commitment issues and let her down big time in the end when it came to the crunch. To everyone’s shock & surprise, he recently married someone else.

Around the time he got married, my sister met a guy and within 3 months, they were talking about getting married. They even began looking at venues. By 6 months, they were engaged and living together. They also set a date for their wedding which is in 6 months time.

My sister has a history of problems, some mental health issues and in my honest opinion, a bad relationship with alcohol. I have been known to drink to excess on occasion so believe me, I’m not judging. If I think back to just over a year ago, she was having a break down and telling me she’d been drinking alcohol every day for the past 3 months. She then told me a few weeks later that she’s stopped drinking and was fine.

It’s almost as if one minute, she’s in a great place and 6 months down the line she’ll be in an awful place. A lot of that depends on whether she is in a relationship or not. I also feel like her personality changes depending on the guy that’s in her life and I feel like she’s lost her sense of self. I truly believe she doesn’t know who she is anymore.

She likes to be seen as someone who knows it all. If I tell her I’m going to learn how to do something (a new hobby for instance) she’ll start telling me exactly how to do it, as if she knows everything about everything. I just try to ignore it. It’s as if she has insecurities which make her feel the need to be superior to me.

Anyway, I’m very worried about her new relationship. I think her and her fiancé definitely have some stuff in common but since meeting him, she’s started smoking again and on a recent family trip, she was really drinking to excess and smoking (out of her bedroom window, with the bedroom door open whilst one of my DC slept in the interconnecting room.

She used to be so conscientious and such a meticulous person when we were younger. Someone who liked to take good care of her health and wouldn’t drink the day before a big event as she’d want to feel good the next day. She is not that person any more and I think she’s lost herself.

I’m not sure the happy persons she’s giving off with her fiancé is true or whether it’s all a smokescreen. Sometimes in the past she’s been on a sort of high like this but I’ve had a bad gut feeling about it and then lo and behold a couple of moths later she’ll have a breakdown.

I feel guilty because I’m struggling to feel as happy for her as I wish I was. She’s moving so fast with this guy, which in theory is okay but I just can’t help but worry about her.

Do you think this is all in my head?

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XTina75 · 20/11/2017 14:54

Anyone? Sorry I’m a first time poster and have no one I feel I can really talk to about any of this so just really hoping for a response.

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Gemini69 · 20/11/2017 14:58

Hi there.. are you concerned she's putting on a brave face for image purposes and in reality doesn't want to get married.. but it's now what everyone is expecting... plus with her recent ex getting hitched so quickly.. so she feels pressured Flowers

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XTina75 · 20/11/2017 15:05

I think she wants to be happy, she may even believe she’s happy right now... but I have seen this all before with her and her behaviour is not that of her true self (if that makes sense). I just think if she doesn’t know who she truly is, she can’t possibly be happy and is likely just around the corner from another break down. She wants children and I’m concerned if she’s become desperate (I know that sounds awful and I wish I could think of a kinder word for it) and she has finally found a guy who wants to commit to her and she’s never had that before so she’s just going with it. None of my family really know this guy yet so that’s another concern. It’s her life, and I totally understand that. It’s just, when I’ve had this feeling before, I’m normally on the Money with it, much though I wish I wasn’t. I want her to be happy but I’d hate to see her end up divorced and in an even worse place mentally than how I’ve seen her in the past.

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XTina75 · 20/11/2017 15:12

I do believe she really does want to get married but I’m just not sure it’s for the right reasons.

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Cracklesfire · 20/11/2017 15:29

My sister is a bit like this. She has a rigid life plan and when one relationship ends she finds someone who is willing to jump into that life plan where she left off with the last man whether that’s travelling, buying a house, marrying or ttc.

I had the most awful feeling she was making a huge mistake in the run up to her wedding but ultimately if I’d said something it would’ve ended our relationship. So they’re married, her DH makes me so uncomfortable and I worry about him isolating her from friends and family. If things fall apart I’ll be there to help her pick up the pieces like always but I’d be worried if I said something and she cut me off she’d have nowhere to turn later if things go wrong.

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XTina75 · 20/11/2017 15:57

It’s tough isn’t it crackles, I really worry about her and her ability to cope if this does go pear shaped Sad I’m just not sure what to do for the best?

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springydaffs · 20/11/2017 16:29

I was going to stay stick with her...

BUT she seems to have the characteristics of an addict (I am one too so not pointing any fingers) from the things you describe. As you know, addicts have to bottom out in order to get to a place of recovery...

So stick with her but from a distance. The awful shock of her last relationship will no doubt be traveling through her system creating havoc and driving her to addictive - aka avoidant - behaviours.

It's obvious you love her. She may never be well enough to return that love but love her nonetheless. One day she may get well, the journey to wanting and accepting recovery is often surprising.

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Cracklesfire · 20/11/2017 16:32

I guess it comes down to your sister and your relationship with her. But you might back her further into a corner by raising your concerns?

Mine is so head strong and won’t listen to anybody - even my parents said they have reservations but they need to be supportive so she can go to them if it all goes wrong.

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