I have a brother (the youngest) who had a somewhat troubled childhood. Nothing too traumatic but there were some issues. As he grew into his teenage years, he started hanging around the wrong crowd. Stayed out late, was into drinking and was smoking. He had his first kid at a young age. His wife (then girlfriend) was even younger.
I don't ever remember my parents ever telling my brother that his concerns were not family friendly. Whatever those concerns were. In fact, my parents prioritized my brother's needs because they could see that he had his own inner struggles. For some reason, his life was not as easy for him as it was for me and his other brothers.
We are all older now, we all have our own kids. And as we gather together, gratefully after a year of isolation, there is an unsaid truth amongst us. For all the troubles and headaches that we endured in our youths, we are all grateful that my parents did not shun my brother. That they treated his issues with love and understanding. Because a family that shuns one of its own because they do not see eye to eye, is no family at all.
...;Happy
