Dear Prudence,
I have an older paternal half-sister, “Chloe.” We always knew the other existed and had limited encounters as children, but due to distance, family dynamics, and overall lifestyles, we were pretty much estranged. (I would honestly forget at times that I even had a sister.) Last year, I wanted to change that though and reached out to her. We connected and began talking through phone calls, texts, emails, and social media. I even went out to meet with her.
Unfortunately, all these instances revealed to me that Chloe is not someone I want in my life. She’s self-centered, rude, opinionated, judgmental, inconsiderate, and just a terrible individual. Our relationship consists of me doing all the heavy lifting, and she never shows gratitude toward me even when I go out of my way to help her. I no longer want a relationship and have already taken steps to cut all contact by changing my number, my email addresses, and blocking her on social media. However, my mom has been giving me grief for this. To be clear, she doesn’t care about us not having a relationship; she actually warned me that reaching out might not go the way I hoped. Her issue is how I’m going about ending things. She feels I owe it to Chloe to have one more conversation where I explain why I don’t want her in my life so that there’s closure. I disagree. We’re both grown women and I doubt Chloe would even notice my absence until years from now, if she does at all. But my mom feels that since I was the one to initiate contact, the least I could do is officially end it even if it means getting cursed out. Who is right here?