My December was greeted with a very unfortunate event. Before all of this, I didn't know how easy family ties could be cut off.
Let me start from the very beginning.
My aunt CC from my mother's side and my grandmother LL sent us a message via FB that they wanted to spend time with us and in order to do so, would like to have a trip on local tourist spots in our country. They are living on the other side of the world. The travel would definitely be quite the challenge and they both have been gaining some age.
Aunt CC asked my eldest brother AG to help her plan the trip. It was around September and at the time, I wasn't sure if I could come due to work issues. AG tried to make the plan as agreeable to most as possible. A lot of changes occurred during the process. That was issue number 1.
When the dates were finally settled, aunt CC wanted to save money on accommodations and asked my uncle RD from my father's side if they could use his apartment for a few days. At first, it was okay, but after some thoughts, uncle RD decided that the place would be too small for 3 people to live in, not to mention there were boxes and I mean huge boxes of my little cousins' toys. It would have been embarrassing to offer such a place to guests. It seemed that aunt CC wasn't very happy about this. She excluded uncle RD's family to one of the planned trips. So another change to her perfect plan had to be changed. This was issue number 2.
The most recent change was the hired driver's fee. It was earlier agreed upon that the total cost for the driver would be 2500 PHP (56.12 USD) PER DAY. As we were supposed to be hiring him for 5 days, the TOTAL cost would be 12,500 PHP (280.62 USD). A couple of weeks before the planned date, the driver opened up that one of the places would be really far from the other places in the itinerary, about two hours from the farthest place. He wanted 500 PHP (11.22 USD) to be added to the TOTAL COST. So instead of 12,500 PHP, it will be 13,000 PHP (291.84 USD). This was where aunt CC snapped at my brother AG. A lot was said. Her words seemed like we were the ones who will gain something from the payment. My usually calm emotions swirled and I felt sick just remembering the things she said. AG stopped replying to her messages. This was issue number 3.
The morning after the 500 peso issue, I couldn't help myself but send her message. With carefully chosen words and a little appeal on faith, I expressed how she hurt our feelings with her words. I even set my oh-so-high pride and apologized for saying my honest feelings. I found out that my other brother AJ also sent her a message the night before. Her replies made tears well up inside my heart. It was really heart-breaking that she could say such words to her own nephews and niece. She bad-mouthed our manners saying we shouldn't be meddling with the affairs, that we have no respect to our elderly, that we are uneducated, etc. She was the one who snapped at us first. She treated what my brother did like it was for naught and like he was ruining HER plans.
After everything, she blocked us on FB. My brother AJ did the same. I would have done so as well but I don't want family problems. If there was a way to patch things up, I would do it. I realize later on that what my brother AJ said was right. This was issue number 4.
"It's just an endless cycle. If that person could say and do such things to us, even if she tries to make things better, it would just be repeated. When you are already in good terms again, she would just do the same thing over and over and over again. There's no end to it."
Despite his warning, I tried to give aunt CC a chance. Sure enough, as we have the receipt for the hotel reservation, she tried contacting me a week before the plan. I gave her the information she needed and accepted her words lightly. When she was done and got what she wanted, she reverted back to her rude side. There was a nagging feeling inside of me. I shouldn't have given her anything. At the same time, I was conflicted because I felt guilt when I think about my grandmother and the stress she must be feeling. I was naive.
In the end, I decided to end it all as well. No contacts whatsoever. I will protect myself from the possible harm she may cause me in the future. After all, self-preservation is a natural instinct isn't it?
I know a lot could not be said here. Details that are meant only for us to bear. Somehow, I would just like to share how easy relationships are ended nowadays. The internet is not a reflection of your real life relations with other people but it is in the people themselves whether they would abide by this or not.
"The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water in the womb"
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