Family Estrangement Advice Column

The article is an advice column from 'Dear Annie' where a reader, 'Letting Go on the West Coast', describes her disappointment and sadness regarding her siblings' lack of effort in maintaining family relationships. She recounts numerous instances where she made significant efforts to attend family events and host her siblings, including flying them to Kauai for her 60th birthday. However, her siblings have rarely reciprocated, often only visiting her when it was convenient for their own travel plans or to receive gifts. The final straw was when her two brothers, who claimed they couldn't attend her son's destination wedding in Hawaii due to other plans and hunting season, were later discovered to have been in Hawaii together just a month before the wedding, without mentioning it to her. 'Letting Go on the West Coast' feels foolish for clinging to a false sense of family and is now considering cutting ties with her siblings. Annie Lane advises her that she was not a fool but loyal, and that it is acceptable to step back from relationships that lack mutual effort.