Dear Prudence,
My sister, “Priscilla,” ended her marriage with my former brother-in-law due to his serial adultery. Last month, she received the news of his death. They had been divorced for 15 years, but there was no love lost between them. His funeral was two weeks ago.
I did not expect her to attend, but I did so that I could be there for my niece and nephew and their families. However, Priscilla pulled a stunt that left them beside themselves with fury.
When everyone assembled in the cemetery for the graveside service, we were shocked to see a plane skywriting a message overhead that ultimately ended up reading, “Good Riddance!” Initially, we had no idea who was responsible until I told my sister about it, and she boasted about hiring a skywriting company. Priscilla has been crowing about it nonstop ever since.
It wasn’t just her kids there, but their spouses and children as well who saw it. So did members of her ex’s family, who obviously played no role in his infidelity and were just as offended. My sister justified it as a final payback for her ex’s numerous affairs while they were married. Her kids have cut her off, but now my niece and nephew have both said that if I want to continue to be in their lives and those of their kids, they expect me to disown my sister. Was what she did distasteful enough to warrant not speaking to her again to preserve my relationships with them?
—Scandalous Skywriting