My Sister... wtf?

My sister came home to visit last week. I'm really at my wits end as to how to deal with her. She has placed herself on such a high pedestal falling off would kill her. She has decided that her life is so perfect that she is entitled to critique the rest of the family on how to fix ours. What bullshit!

Her visits, which were once a welcomed event, have become a dreaded exercise in watching what you say and what you do. My mom walks on egg shells so that she doesn't become the target of her opinions. I just avoid having any serious conversations with her. My brother and his family won't even come see her.

I knew she had been confiding in The Wife but after she left I found out she had a heart to heart with my dad as well. Both discussed some of the conversations they had with her and both had me seeing red. I had to stop both of them from telling me everything because I didn't know if I could stop myself from contacting her about what she had said.

I work in a small family business. We are going through a painful transition of turning ownership and leadership of our company from my parents to my brother and myself. I can't begin to tell people how complex a situation this has been. My dad doesn't want to give up what has been his life for the past thirty years but also knows he's tired of the daily grind. Promises have been made on both sides and some feathers have been ruffled working out the details. He obviously discussed this with my sister. She advised him that if he wasn't happy with the the way things were going to fire my brother and myself (she doesn't realize we own half the company already) and close the business down. WTF? My dad's thoughts about her after this suggestion... "Your sister is nuts."

What the hell is she thinking? After twenty five years of building our business my dad is going to forget every promise he made? Did she think about the impact this SUGGESTION would have on my family and my brother's family? She has no clue the sacrifices my brother and myself have made because "one day the company will be ours". Actually she just has no clue.

The wife had to cut their conversation short as my sister tried to explain to her that no matter what agreement I had with my parents, I had no right to expect anything. She tried to convince The Wife that if my brother and myself hadn't taken the "easy road" we would not have put ourselves in this position. The Wife tried in vein to explain to her all the sacrifices both families have made to make our company successful. A company The Wife has asked me to leave many times because of the long hours, the extreme stress and the lack of boundaries between our personal and my business life. My wife's thoughts about her after this conversation... "your sister is nuts."

So what to do about my sister? I find it increasingly hard to be around her. I damn sure don't appreciate her meddling in my life. If she has an opinion about me she should come say it to me. What could she have been thinking when she tried to tear me down to my own wife? I honestly have no idea but something is brewing and I fear it's going to come to a boil sooner rather than later.