Oy, where to begin? I am in such a pickle and could really use some Knottie advice! My wedding is coming up at the end of August. All invites have gone out already. I have a cousin who's around my age (25-ish) who has just recently gotten out of rehab. As in, last month or so. He was a drug addict who was in and out of jail, in and out of rehab, and stole money from his parents, expensive electronics from his friends houses and stole their money too to fuel his drug addiction. But now that he's out of rehab, he can't stop singing his own praises about how clean he is and how his life is changed. Which is great and I'm happy for him, but due to all of his trouble and our distrust of him he was crossed off the guest list when we had originally sent the invites.
I would consider myself close to this cousin, although he is not blood, his mom married my uncle when we were in young elementary school so he and his sister are as close as any blood relative would be. But now that he's back on track, he's asking when the wedding is. His mom even called my mom wondering why he didn't get an invitation when the rest of the family did. When my mom said it's because of all his issues, his mom seemed irritated that he wouldn't be invited because he's "doing much better now"... which may be true, but honestly the idea of his potentially sticky fingers being around all those gifts and wedding cards with money inside makes me so nervous! Not to mention any unattended purses.
And maybe he truly has changed. But I don't want my night ruined by having that thought in the back of my mind. I love my cousin and of course wish he could be there, but I don't know if it's worth the risk and my own peace of mind. I know his mom and sister will probably hold this as a grudge against me (they can be a bit petty like that), but can they honestly blame me for not trusting him right out the gate? I don't know what to do!