Dear Aunts and Mother,

I am completely sick and tired of this family feud crap! You preach "family first" all my life then proceed to tear each other apart. I feel like my soul is being torn into tiny pieces and I don't feel like you could give a rat's patoodie about it. Your mother was barely in the ground two hours and you started this.
What would Grandpa have to say about this? Do you think he would have let you carry on this way? Do you think that just because he's not with us anymore that he can't see you? That he's not still disappointed in you? What about Grandma? Do you really think she wanted her funeral remembered as the start of Civil War 2?

When the inklings of this massive fight were first showing through I was too busy worrying about my grandmother's health to put a stop to it. When it continued six months later and even the news of your only brother's death couldn't make you put away your pettiness, I kept my mouth shut and cried into my pillows. I kept my mouth shut all the way through as I watched your pettiness grow and my grandmother die. Family first doesn't exist in a family like ours. I've learned that now. We are too busy worrying about how we can get the most out of others for ourselves that we forget that there are actual humans with feelings on the other side of our behavior. That is something I plan to rid myself of. The family traits of bullying, two-facedness, selfishness, and bitterness are not going to be passed on to the future generations if I have any say in it.

To my entire family: I will always stand beside you against outside attacks but I refuse to listen to you tear apart each other anymore.

To my four younger cousins: I'm always there for you no matter what. I would put my life on the line for you, remember that. You will always be "mine" to protect.

To my younger brother: You are all the above plus more. Never hesitate to call on me.