Dear Prudence,
I am going to community college on a limited scholarship. My younger brother went straight to an expensive university. My cousin died last year in a car accident and my aunt announced she wanted to give the money from his education fund to us. This means a lot to both of us and will cover a semester and a half of my brother’s school but pay for all of mine, including the technical training I have to do afterward. Plus, I might be able to afford a used car. My parents and brother are pressuring me to give the money to my brother, since he “needs it more.” There has always been an edge of favoritism toward my brother. My mother brags about him going to this university all the time. My father says my brother is going to do “great things.” I get the “just”: just going to community college, just made B’s this semester, just plans to go to a trade school, etc. Just never enough. It would break my aunt’s heart to hear about this, but the pressure from my parents is getting uncomfortable. I have already moved out, but anytime I go back home, this comes up. How do I make it stop?
—Always Less Than