Does it make sense for family to steal from one and other?

I grew up very lucky to have enough money.
Mom and Dad took us many places on vacation -
gave us what we needed and tried not to spoil us.

My sibling who wanted to keep this way of life sucked what ever money she could out of my Father. Her husband worked in the family business and while they were supposed to be buying it from him - they never gave him a cent.

Dad would give them money and they would give it back to him. One day they found that the business might not have been worth what my father had originally purposed and spoke about it when possible. They totally ripped him off - never even giving him money.

Finally during this whole thing they were trying
to sell the business. I came to their house for a visit, my brother in law had this business broker over and he approached me. I did not want to talk, however I did and later cried from the depths of hurt, because if the things they were saying.

My sister and her husband have gossiped inaccurately about me too for a long time to many people often poisoning them against me. I am a nice person and have been victimized by them.

Our Mom died and left some money and jewelry to us. I kept mine and wore a beautiful watch to a graduation party where I knew people with a lot of people with money would be. I just wanted to fit in. It was at my sisters house. One of her kids asked to try it on and wouldn't give it back. I had to leave for a flight or I would be late - I asked my sister to hold onto it for safe keeping. BOY is she holding onto it.

Most recently, my brother in law lost his job.
My sister decided to keep the watch I had left at her house for safe keeping - actually she called me to tell me she was selling some jewelry/family items and I knew she did remember it had been mine.
I asked to buy it back because I wanted to help.
Later, She retracted the sale from me saying she wasn't selling it at this time.

I now have severed ties from them and live with a shredded sense of self because of years of back stabbing from them.

Is it normal for my family to act this way? I want to heal from this...

Is It Normal?
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Comments ( 6 ) Sort: best | oldest
  • thats really terrible. i have a sister who steals from me all the time. my ipod was missing for six months and i kept asking her if she had it or knew where it was and she swore she never saw it. and then i found it in her room. same happened with cell phone, jewelry, money. it got so bad that we all got keys to lock our rooms from the outside. obv this is not on same scale as ur story. my sis is sick but yours is nasty on purpose.

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  • no it's not normal.
    it's a mixture of pride, greed, and a superiority complex. your sister probably feels that she's better than you and doesn't want to show any weakness.
    i'm saying this out of experience(in a way). my dad and uncle are kind of in the same situation. my dad gave my uncle a lot of chances. one thing led to another and now my uncle, in a way, is excommunicated by the family.
    I think it's all his wifes fault, it's also his fault for letting her walk all over him.

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  • It's actually very simple.

    When your mom and dad died, the probably had a will of some sort. Even if they didn't, you still had to go and see a notary about the inheritance settlements. There is most likely an inventory of your parent's belonings, along with a list of who inherited what.

    If the list is there, you just point out that the watch is rightfully yours and the case is closed. I should hurry up though, if she already stated that she had the intention to sell it. Once it's gone, you can't prove they still have it.

    I really hope this turns out good for you. It's never a pleasant experience when a sibling steals from you. I've experienced it myself multiple times, my case was about money. I used to save money in a room I share with my younger brother. One day I came home and found out he stole it to maintain his high (he's a pothead). It's all fun and games if you get it back afterwards, as in: just loaning it. But... I never got mine back.

    That's why I urge you to do so. You'll be forever remembered of what they stole from you. Not a day goes by without wondering how the bond between me and my brother can have such little trust in it. Not to mention mine is a sneaky little bastard, but yours just tells it straight in your face.

    Anyway, good luck and... get your watch back ;-)

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  • Get your watch back. It's your watch which you inherited. If not for you, do it for your mom and dad's sake. I'm sure he has suffered from this whole affair and wouldn't want it any other way.

    Your brother-in-law and your sister clearly can't coope with money. They got a well running business thrown in their hands and fucked it up. Now they've sold the business, they can't even handle their own finances. They are clearly living above their standards or are just lazy.

    The thing is: it's your watch. After they've already "betrayed" your father and yourself (since you won't inherit any profit of the business they fucked up), you allow them to betray you for a second time. You are really naïve. Stop all contact between you and your sister. She only wants your money.

    Get your watch back.

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    • Hey,
      Thanks for your input. I definitely need the support and am pretty damn angry about this.

      I did stop all contact under the pretense that they had violated what ever shred if trust I had left. I am not sure I can get the watch back legally because there are no pictures of me wearing it. I would have to go to her house and search without them knowing. Hey...I don't do things underhandedly...no matter what the situation. I am too mature to do that. I will think of ways I can go about getting it back legally.

      Thanks again

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  • What a bunch of creeps. You can only hope you're more closely related to the milkman than any of them.

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