After her husband left her, Emily completely lost her mind from grief. She loved Daniel madly, couldn’t imagine her life without him, yet he easily traded her for freedom—freedom from children and responsibilities.
Daniel offered to pay child support as long as he wouldn’t be forced to see the kids, while foolish Emily threw hysterical fits all over the staircase. The children saw it all and probably felt deep shame.
At first, Emily tried to cope with her pain by lashing out at her family and colleagues, but later, she got involved with a group of heavy-drinking coworkers and started spending her evenings with them. She completely neglected her children.
Matthew was already 13 years old; he could heat his own food or order something online. But I was really worried about seven-year-old Emma.
Her brother took care of her—walked her to school, fed her pastries from the cafeteria—but was that normal?
Arguments with my sister led nowhere. She kept drinking, lashing out, and demanding that we leave her and the kids alone. I told my parents about the situation, and the three of us decided to take a drastic step.
To prevent Emily from losing her parental rights and from dragging the kids into an abyss with her, I took my nephew and niece to live with me, while my parents took their mother to a clinic.
Emily had to stay in the hospital for five months to overcome her addiction to alcohol and deal with the pain of her divorce. In the meantime, I took care of her children.
Later, it became very hard for me to part with them, and they asked to stay together. At first, Emily didn’t support the idea, but when she faced motherhood again and realized how much she had missed, she herself suggested that we all live together in their home.
I don’t think my sister and I have ever been as close as we are now. As kids, we shared a room and constantly fought, but now we live peacefully, our relationship is great, and I have no plans to move out just yet.
I’ll do it only when Emily is fully ready to take full responsibility for her life and move forward on her own.
