In the "Why me?" vein of thought

I knew it would happen. My sister phoned, and my niece is back in the hospital with another "episode." I expected to be asked for money at any moment, but she didn't. Sally also didn't mention the family dispute, but she's bound to know about it. That's one thing my family does: if one person is having a fuss with another, then everyone hears about it.

Of course, being the "know-it-all" that my family accuses me of being, I have to say that I resent being put on this tightrope. If they don't need anything from me, then they despise me and can't say enough negative about me. If they don't need anything, I don't hear from them for months at a time. Once they need me (i.e., my money), suddenly I'm the most loved sister, the one who can solve all their problems. Suddenly my being a know-it-all is exactly what they WANT me to be. "I'm broke, so fix me!"

I had asked Esteemed Spouse to field calls from my family, but the phone rang and woke us up from a nap, and in his grogginess, he did what he always does: "It's your sister, so you talk to her." He could have at least found out what the issue was, but he "forgot" that he was supposed to be running interference. It's not fair to him, I suppose. He'd never ask me to run interference for him. But then, his family is only slightly insane and hardly ever does any of the crap that mine does.

As a know-it-all, I do understand what ails my niece. She's old enough now and smart enough to realize she's never going to have what other girls her age get to have. She's in a wheelchair. She drools. She is hard to understand when she talks. In my not-so-humble opinion, given my status as a know-it-all, I wish there was a little more reason and logic in her world and a little less fundamentalist faith. By now she's figured out that if "god" answered all, or even most, prayers, she wouldn't have cerebral palsy.

On one hand, I wish she could be placed in a specialized boarding school where she could be advanced to what she is capable of. On the other hand, such placement costs money that my sister doesn't have, so unless I'm willing to put more of my money where my big mouth is, I have to keep my opinion to myself.

Love does not conquer all. Sometimes it just makes life more complicated.