So, I learned to stop expecting things.

By the time I was in my 30s, I had built a life for myself, far away from their gravitational pull. A good job, a comfortable apartment, and friends who treated me better than my own blood ever did. I visited out of obligation, a ghost at the feast of their affection for my brother. They weren’t cruel, not outright. But the difference in how they treated us was the difference between day and night. It was just a fact I had accepted.