Dear Prudence,
I used to be best friends with my sister. When our dad died last year, disagreements pushed us apart, and we barely spoke for months. Recently things have improved and I hoped we could go back to what we were. Now, I am at a loss and am not sure whether I can continue contact with her, because an email exchange has left me fuming. In reference to my being sexually assaulted by a family member, she wrote, “I don’t know what to think.” I took this really hard. It feels like she blames me for the assault or is taking the relative’s side. She tries to get out of talking about this—it is very hard to get her to sit down in person, as she is the type who wants to brush it off and pretend nothing happened. I am the opposite. I can’t let anything go until it’s been discussed. How do I reconcile with her?
—Sisterly Estrangement