DEAR ABBY: I love my cousin “Carly” like a sister. We come from a large family, and both of us are estranged from our mothers (who are sisters) as well as our siblings. We’re OK with this because we have no room for toxic people in our lives.
Recently, Carly has fallen on hard times -- a bitter divorce and a failed business. She lost one son in a terrible accident and the other to drugs and alcohol. Her daughter has sided with her dad and rarely speaks to Carly. When she does contact her mom, she is unkind and rude. I think that since Carly no longer has money to spend on her, the girl is kicking her mom while she’s down.
Carly is heartbroken, depressed and struggling with the “why me?” of all of this. If I had the funds, I’d help her with whatever she needed to deal with her legal woes, but these are tough times for everyone. I try to check in on her daily via text (we live in separate cities) and give her strategies to deal with her failing business and all the clean-up -- financial and emotional -- that comes with letting go of her dream of owning her own shop.
