There are not enough words to express my gratitude to you for writing this. As I was reading I kept thinking "I could have written this." There are so many parallels with my own experience. My sister discarded me without saying why. I am the middle child with an older brother and a younger sister. I, too, was put into a parental role when I was 13 and my sister was 7. Mom went back to work and Dad had his own business. We were on our own a lot.

When you expressed your grief and shame, your inability to make sense of what had happened, your feeling of being alone in the world - I could relate to it all. You are telling my story. Wondering over and over again what I did that was so terrible. Feeling like an unworthy, unlovable person. Wondering if I was blind to my own terribleness. Feeling punished. Banished from the family circle. All of it. I have wrestled with it, too.

And my mom refused to intercede. She never asked my sister why she estranged me. She would never go to bat for me. And when she talked about my sister and I reacted badly she said, "I wish you would hurry up and get over this so I can get on with my life."

The estrangement with my sister has been the single most painful experience of my life, too. I also assumed I was the culprit. That I am an awful human being. It has been the greatest existential crisis of my life.

As the middle child, I too had an older brother who was the prince and a little sister who was the princess. I had to fight for my place in the family and this sometimes caused me to act out. I always wanted my family to come together as a coherent unit where we all loved each other and had each other's back. I remember the time as an adult when my brother told me "Family may be important to you but it's not that important to me." But family has always been the most important thing to me and when it fell apart I lost my sense of belonging in the world.

I could say more, but I just want you to know how impactful your story has been for me. Thank you for saying all the things I have wanted to say and helping me see some of the dynamics that shaped our family, making this estrangement possible.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.