Around Christmas, I was in active contact with my sister, who lives in Florida.
She and I have had a pretty absent relationship, meaning she hadn't actively contacted me in years besides the time that I had to inform her that my husband had died.
So-some background on us..Dad was an decorated Army officer, pretty patriotic, would have died for this country.. brought us up kinda liberal (but we were sheltered..being in Maine does that) but he never liked Republicans, and thought FDR was the best POTUS ever (which I agreed with).
Anyway, I know he would have detested Trump becoming POTUS, and I'm sure he would have voted against all the GOP. Towards the end of his life he became anti-war, too. Vietnam did that.
So, I was always pretty liberal and believed sister was too.
Fast forward to the past Christmas when I was texting with her, somehow politics got mentioned and she wrote "Brandon and his son" in a sentence.
I was shocked.
Those words betrayed her political views far better than anything she could have said.
My own sister is a Trumper. She's possibly a anti-vaxxer as well.
I know she's become a Republican because she lives in Boca Raton, a community in Florida which is 99% white and fairly well off.
I immediately texted back something about Jan 6, and mentioned that "Dad would have been so ashamed of this country" and that was about the time I stopped texting her.
Has anyone ever had that happen, when your own siblings turn out to be completely opposite of what they used to be?
I remember distinctly reading Spy magazine when it was running anti-Trump stuff and my sister loved it.
What the fuck happened to her?
Fox and Friends? Ron DeSantis? Florida itself in baking her head?
Whatever happened to her, I've stopped texting her.
In fact, I've almost stopped thinking of her as my sister.
You never know...
My soft hearted liberal brother retired during trump and went down the fox rabbit hole. All he does is spew hate for the 'libs'. Has lost the relationship with his only child. He was actually sulking to me recently about this lost relationship and I stated to him that my relationship as Aunt was perfectly solid because I'm not an asshole.
Anyway, I was quite surprised to find out he is fully vaxxed and boosted and still wears a mask because of his health issues. And he actually told me he thought people were wussies for refusing a silly little face covering. At that moment I'm thinking there might be hope, maybe we can get through to him. Then he says something racist against the VP and I have to hang up.
Win some, lose some.
My parents have always skewed right, but from Bush on it has been a really hard right turn. I’ve achieved détente with them by lighting them up if they get too political. 😀
My mother in law was old school Republican. My husband is Liberal. His mom and I agreed to never talk politics. I really loved her, she died in 2003. My brother in law has become a Facist. Hasn't spoken to us for over 2 years. He's in his 60s and my husband is in his 70s. Parents have died, no other siblings.
Khalil Gibran once wrote "Rarely are brothers and sisters born into the same family." (50 years later, Richard Bach nicked the quote and re-worded it).
Sometimes, all we share with our blood siblings is DNA and the past. It hurts. It has happened to many of us. Sometimes, it's best to let them go for our own sanity and well being. I'm sorry Mary.
I am so sorry about your husband, Mary. Your sister sounds as though she is lost. I would give more than one chance to show the stripes, but I am with you that it seems like a pretty huge "mistake" or a very bad joke.
I am Canadian and have a Conservative brother. We hardly ever speak either. I also have a sister who resides in rural Arizona where everyone thinks tRUMP is good and religious. Her 2 best friends are head over heels madly in love with tRUMP, so I call her often to see how she is doing and remind her to not fall for the politics and to keep wearing her mask. She has resisted the MAGA thus far, but is also a senior and vulnerable, sigh. I won't quit unless she falls into the abyss and I can't reach her. I dread that could still happen.
Boca? That's a wealthy enclave (my mom lives in a nearby town that skews pretty blue). I don't think your sister would be joking about Brandon. Unless you had that type of jokey relationship. Sorry to hear. I'm so lucky my family all have their values straight.
My only relatives who are Trumpers were already well on their way to being fringe loons before Trump. Fortunately they are in the distinct minority in my large and extended family.
Are you sure she wasn’t joking? Obviously it can be difficult to put tone into a text, unless you use emojis or things like /s
Sadly yes. During a family gathering during the holidays, 3 topics were strictly off limits to avoid the drama that would have ensured.
We still communicate, but no where like it used to be before Fox News, Trump, and Covid insidiously leached into our lives.