Enough

Ever scroll someone's social media and think, "Bitch, I know you in real life"?

Few things make me feel crazier than someone who acts one way in person and another on social media. And worse, if you call it out, you're the problem.

I'm GenX; nine times out of ten, I don't even care enough to get involved, and nothing I say will change anything.

But I'm gonna say some things here anyway.

Estrangement: the hot topic people tend to have very strong opinions about, usually without knowing much about who's involved.

Doesn't matter; the snap decision on the message boards is that if someone cuts off family, the one being cut off must have done something.

True.

But something covers a hell of a lot of ground there.

On my side of the family, something happened after my grandmother died.

To abuse the hell out of a metaphor, my family is a mixed bag of nuts, and my grandmother was the bowl that kept us all together.

Now, there had already been tension and drama for years in my family, much of it involving my uncle's second wife: The Barracuda.

My Dad watched her zero in on my uncle at a dance, and warned, "Watch out for her. She's a barracuda."

It all came to a head in 2011.

When Grandma was actively dying, my mother and I cared for her at home day and night. The Barracuda decided to interfere in something that had absolutely nothing to do with her.

This after already causing such a ruckus at the hospital that the staff had asked me to get her under control.

When Grandma died, my uncle followed The Barracuda's instructions to tell no one until she arrived to "verify" the death.

Not even Grandpa, who was denied the right to hold her hand as she passed away.

Once she was gone, the alliances got very Game of Thrones-ish.

Grandpa died without ever forgiving either of them.

And my uncle, who had once been close to his sister, stopped speaking to her.

All the while, The Barracuda was posting heartfelt statements about "family" on Facebook.

"I don't like you...repeated manipulation, lies, and bullshit."