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Wedding Etiquette Forum

*sigh* (very long and kind of pointless. vent)

I don't know if anyone is familiar with my story about my cousin, I've posted about her a couple times. I call her Sally here. She's had a rough go of it when it comes to men, all of her own making. She's been engaged three times, married once, and divorced once (the divorce was a result of a very short ten month marriage, the engagement was a result of about four months of dating). I try really hard not to judge and just feel symapthetic for her, but I can't anymore. She recently got "sort of" engaged (no proposal, no ring, and she still referred to herself as "in a relationship" on FB-although FB doesn't count for much, I know-it was a strange situation), and then found out this guy, let's call him Todd, she had been with for about three months was cheating on her with at least three other women. He had recently gotten divorced, and was getting back at his b!tchy wife. He had two kids, which Sally referred to as her own (this made me very uncomfortable. I could sense by their intense FDA-Facebook Displays of Affection-that the relationship wasn't going to last long and those kids needed some stability in their lives). Through her short lived relationship, however, I didn't judge. I didn't say a word. You all may be asking, why should I give a crap? Well, I'll tell you...

My family has and always will be very close. My grandmother is the head of our family, with her three children (my mom and my two uncles) and their ten children (including children-in-laws, and including me). So we don't have a huge My Big Fat Greek Wedding family, so it's easier to be close. When my cousin first got engaged (she was eighteen at the time, I was seventeen), she asked her only female cousin on the OTHER side of her family to be a BM, but not me. You might think that's a petty thing to get miffed about, but besides her sister (who was and always would be MOH) I'm the only female cousin on OUR side of the family. Everyone, not just me, saw this as a complete slap in the face to our side of the family. Not to mention as little girls (yes, I know, people grow up, and I should have too) we promised each other to be BMs in each others weddings. She never said a word to me, not even after my aunt (not her mom) very publicly shamed her for this (wrong of her? probably? did Sally deserve it? definitely). When the engagement dissolved, Sally went on like nothing happened, ignoring the hurt feelings she had caused (I was not the only piece of collateral damage in this soap opera). I know now it was probably too embarrassing and painful to make a dozen apologies for what could not be undone.

Sally never went without a boyfriend after that, and each relationship lasted a few months at the most. She finally settled on this guy, let's call him John. John was kind of sketchy (there were rumors of his receiving a dishonorable discharge from the armed forces, but no one knows why or how), but we welcomed him into our family because why judge a book by it's cover? They got engaged just after Christmas, and she immediately asks me to be a BM (very half-heartedly, she didn't even look me the in the eye) to save herself the grief of another family battle. By this time, I was considerably older (nineteen...maybe that's not considerably older, but it felt like it), and a whole lot wiser. I wouldn't have given two sh!ts if she had asked me or not. I knew, however, I would face a certain amount of wrath myself from my family if I hadn't agreed to be in the WP. So I did. She then proceeded to tell me that she had chosen a BM dress and that I need to travel 400 miles to her to get measured. I told her I would get a friend to measure me down where I was (in the middle of midterms, mind you) and I would send her the numbers. She told me she didn't trust me, and that if I couldn't make it up to get measured, I wouldn't be a BM. You didn't have to tell me twice. I told her as politely as I could that I appreciated her kind (*snort*) thoughts, but I would enjoy the wedding much more as a guest. She had no problem with that (shocker) and replaced me immediately. The kicker here is that the girl who was my replacement lived all the way out on the coast, and I know for a fact that she FB'd the measurements to Sally.

The wedding was nice enough, I guess, but the marriage only lasted about ten months. Once again, she didn't say anything to anyone, and very unceremoniously got divorced (I can understand how painful a divorce must be, however I felt it was inappropriate that she literally acted like the marriage never occured, when our family had worked together to help put the wedding together). Then, it happened. I got engaged. I never saw her until Christmas (I'll get to that in a minute), but I could tell that she was seeing green by the messages I received from her.

Christmas came, and it was a week after the breakup with the guy, Todd. I didn't say anything, until she sat down  near to me and I very casually asked "So, are you feeling okay?". Whether or not this was appropriate of me to say, her response was not. She truly acted like I had shouted this in front of everyone. No one else was around, and I said it very quietly, and very sympathetically. She looked like she was going to slap me, and said "No, not at all" and got up and left. It just happened to be that the Christmas that she had a fresh breakup coincided with the first family gathering where all my family got to see my ring, gush over wedding details, and officially meet my FI. I tried to be as sensitive as possible, not being too showy in front of her, but if anyone brought up the wedding in front of her, she would scowl and stomp off. I understand that breakups are hard and painful, but if our situations were reversed, I would have at least tried to be a little more subtle about my jealousy.
 
Christmas was at my parents' house this year, so as everyone was leaving, she took one look at me and one look at FI, and in a very rude tone said "good luck with planning", and left. Sally had said maybe one or two words to FI the entire night. We haven't spoken since.

I'm not looking for advice here, but I really just needed to get this out of my system. I know it's probably petty, but no one else wants to hear about it, because they're her family too and no one wants to start a feud. I'm just glad I can vent here and have some peace in my brain. Sorry if I've annoyed anyone. Thanks.

SUMMARY: My cousin has recently broken up with her sort-of fiance and has made a few rude comments about my engagement.

ETA: I'm not going to delete this because there's no point in covering up one's mistakes, but after the responses I've received so far, I realize that this whole rant is really unfair to the persons involved. Please understand I realize how I sound in this, and I apologize if I have offended anyone.

Re: *sigh* (very long and kind of pointless. vent)

  • edited January 2012
    Sounds like she made bad choices and now she has to live with them. I'm sorry things aren't going the way you imagined, but if I were you, I'd totally ignore her and have a blast planning my wedding.
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  • Yeah that's a bummer. It's your turn now..focus on making the most of your engagement and don't worry about her drama.
    June 16, 2012
    image
  • Haters gonna hate.  Ignore her, it's obvious that the entire family sees her immaturity so don't play into it.
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • It was not a "slap in the face" to you or your side of the family that you were not asked to be a bridesmaid the first time around.  She did NOT deserve the way she was treated for that.  Nor was it her responsibility to baby your family through your hurt feelings after her cancelled engagement.

    Now you're cranky and pouting because following a painful divorce, she can't muster the fake happiness to make small talk with you about your wedding?  Your summary indicates that she has made rude comments, but that's not true.  All she's done is been visibly upset and terse, and left the room when a painful topic came up.  From where I'm sitting, she's showed admirable restraint in attempting not to poison your happiness, or venting at you in an emotional time.

    Her dating judgement may be lousy...but your story doesn't exactly paint you in the kindest of lights either.
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • I can understand how you might see it that way, Raptor, but you don't really know the whole story. She didn't just not make me a BM, she was bratty about it. She pretty much stuck her tongue out at everyone and say "too bad so sad". I don't like being told I'm pouty and cranky, but maybe I am. And what I didn't include in my story were the messages she sent me over FB that I briefly mentioned. They included very petty criticisms about wedding details I shared with her, because she asked and I figured that there was no harm in sharing my colours and venue and whatnot. And KindaSparkly, I was hardly rubbing salt in her wounds. I just asked if she was doing alright. I admit I did want her to at least pretend to be happy for me, and that was unfair of me.

    That all said, maybe part of this vent was me needing to hear the harsh reality that I need to grow the f*** up and get over whatever crap I have with Sally. I appreciate your harsh criticisms, I really do. Sorry if I offended anyone or if I came off as a big brat. That wasn't my intention, and I'm glad you told it to me straight. I hate it when I turn into someone so judgmental, because I try not to be normally.
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_sigh-very-long-kind-of-pointless-vent?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:8b124065-e62a-4b4c-9acb-c272afa59f7fPost:76da58df-7835-4397-8f8c-bf5bb08f9fed">Re: *sigh* (very long and kind of pointless. vent)</a>:
    [QUOTE]I can understand how you might see it that way, Raptor, but <strong>you don't really know the whole story.</strong> She didn't just not make me a BM, she was bratty about it. She pretty much stuck her tongue out at everyone and say "too bad so sad". I don't like being told I'm pouty and cranky, but maybe I am. And what I didn't include in my story were the messages she sent me over FB that I briefly mentioned. They included very petty criticisms about wedding details I shared with her, because she asked and I figured that there was no harm in sharing my colours and venue and whatnot. And KindaSparkly, I was hardly rubbing salt in her wounds. I just asked if she was doing alright. I admit I did want her to at least pretend to be happy for me, and that was unfair of me. That all said, maybe part of this vent was me needing to hear the harsh reality that I need to grow the f*** up and get over whatever crap I have with Sally. I appreciate your harsh criticisms, I really do. Sorry if I offended anyone or if I came off as a big brat. That wasn't my intention, and I'm glad you told it to me straight. I hate it when I turn into someone so judgmental, because I try not to be normally.
    Posted by LittleMissCutiePie[/QUOTE]

    The bolded really shocks me considering how much you wrote.

    You and your cousin clearly have a hard time being mature with one another's wedding plans.  I think your best solution is to not talk wedding with her and when she gets engaged again she shouldn't talk wedding with you. Period.
  • I think it's ridiculous to think that you should have been a bridesmaid as the only female cousin. That makes no sense and we tell girls all the time ask who you are closest with, don't feel obligated. When you are 10 you say some dumb things, so I wouldn't have counted on that either. You sound really petty and judgmental. Every single sentence about this woman had a snotty jab in parenthesis and then a humorous "oh but I'm not judging" as an afterthought. Also, I definitely would not have said, "Everything ok?" I can just imagine how she took that, as you just rubbing it in her face. If she didn't want to talk about her divorce that would maker think that she likes to ignore the sucky things in her life, as a way of coping, and thus asking her about it on Christmas would be the last thig I'd do.
  • PS this MIGHT have been the longest post I've ever seen on TK. Maybe.
  • I don't come from a family where it would be offensive to not ask a cousin to be in the wedding, but to be fair I know there are absolutely families out there who feel this way. You should not have expected to be in the wedding and you shouldn't have been hurt, but it sounds as if you had a lot of family "egging you on" -- they were as offended as you, so I can't blame a teenager for going along with them.

    Additionally, I have no problem with your asking her if she was doing alright and am a little stunned that others would find that inappropriate -- not sure what else you could say, but I in no way see that as rubbing it in her face.

    I think that it would be a good lesson for you to learn that you don't have to be close just because you're cousins; sounds as though the two of you have very little in common, and, going forward, I would limit contact with her as much as possible and try not to be hurt by the lack of closeness between the two of you.
    Lizzie
  • How does one ceremoniously get divorced?? And also, let it go. I'm not sure what this vent is even about. Because she's not all excite about your wedding plans? Because that's what it seems like.
    image
  • This is a semi-anonymous board - we only know the story you tell us.  "To bad, so sad" is a bit graceless, but she shouldn't have had to defend her choices at all.  I can see where she was hurt by "are you OK" when she's not, but I honestly can't think what would have been better to say, and I wasn't there to hear how it was said.  Because of your engagement, you may just be too painful for her to be around right now.  Sometimes, that just is, and it's not anybody's fault.

    Sometimes, the best thing to do with family drama is to not feed it.  Take a step back, and remember that you and your cousin are different people in different place with different priorities right now.  From the sound of it, that's not something your family is good at teaching, and The Knot boards can be a harsh place for a reality check.  I have to commend you on your willingness to accept criticism.  I hope things work out for you.
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • Thank you to everyone. As I said in my ETA, I realize how I sound. Also, I did warn that this was very long, lol. I think a huge point that I tried to get across but clearly didn't is that the things that happened with her first engagement happened when I was a little kid. I was stupid, and shouldn't have gotten as upset as I did. But I moved on. It just changed our relationship is what I'm getting at. That's really the only reason I still think about it. I know now that there was absolutely NO obligation for her to ask me to be a bridesmaid, but what I was also trying to get across is that we have a VERY tight knit family, and I thought Sally and I were extremely close. I was wrong, and that still hurts. And the "ceremonious" part? She completely refused to say anything, and acted like there was no marriage at all. There was no acknowledgement. I suppose that's very unkind of me to assume she should respond to a divorce one way or another.

    And Megbo, maybe I am being petty. And judgmental. I wish I wasn't but it's really hard not to be, because all I've gotten from her is petty and judgmental. Even since we were kids, she's thought she's better than me. And that's not me being immature or whiny or pouty. She's made a point to act superior around me, and make a point of telling me why she's so much better than me. Also, when I asked her if she was doing alright, it was purely trying to be sympathetic. I wasn't saying it in a way to rub it in her face or taunt her. I appreciate your response though. There's no point in coddling me when I'm being a big brat.

    Thanks again for all your responses. I apologize for leaving some things out, but I felt it was long enough already. Again, I'm sorry if I offended anyone.
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