Losing a relationship with a close relative or friend may be one of the biggest heartbreaks of your life. Some people may leap at the chance to reconnect, but many won’t.

See why this young man’s rare disease determined his decision.

I cannot forgive my sister after she broke my heart for years

I was born with a rare, hereditary disease. Only 200-300 known cases worldwide. Both me and my half-sister got it from our father.

However, at the time, I had the worst outbreak of said disease in the country. Been through many major surgeries, and went in and out of the hospital growing up.

So she felt very alone and very attached to her half-sister.

When I was 8 or 9 years old (26 currently), my half-sister (who is 4 years older) decided to leave the family. We share the same dad and I’m my mothers only child.

She didn’t live with us, but with her mother and her other half-brother, but would come every/every other weekend. She was my world, role-model and best friend. She’d babysit me, taught me a lot and we had many inside jokes.

My parents had an argument with my sister over the fact that she was visiting less often, and understandably, they want her to come visit more.

Things got heated and she left, jumped on a bus and went home to her mother and never visited again.

I was told that she had said I was hitting her, that my mother hated her, and that our dad favourited me over her. All of this untrue.

The estrangement was really hard on OP.

I didn’t understand much of what was going on, only that my dear sister just left me.

Throughout my early teens I tried multiple times to reach out to her. Contact her on Facebook (blocked), send a message and even call her (number blocked), and even talked to her other brother, only to get told “I get why she hates you.”

I found out that she had returned the Christmas presents our grandparents had sent to her, and even berated them over the phone to leave her alone.

I even saved up some money and bought her some really nice earrings for her 20th birthday in hopes that we could reconnect. I still have them wrapped in a tiny, hidden box.

The disease we shared is called cherubism and I had the worst case in the country for a while, so because it was so rare, I basically became a lab rat.

Forgiving and forgetting is now possible, but she can’t.

So I was often in and out of the hospital and had a handful of major surgeries.

My sister didn’t exactly go through everything I did with her case, but, I felt like I had someone who at least understood how it was like. Then she ditched me and now I face it alone.

Recently however, after the death of our grandparents and since having a daughter, she suddenly wanted contact again.

I adore my niece, but I just cannot just move on from the past. I keep it civil, but I can’t talk to her unless she volunteers an apology.

I just cannot forgive what she did to me, but also to the rest of the family.

Here is what folks are saying.

I doubt it’s that rare…

Indeed. Holding grudges means you are the one struggling mentally.

Letter writing can be easier and more effective.

Interesting. Maybe.

I agree. Holding onto these things means that energy isn’t going to something productive.

This guy is going to make himself sick dwelling like this.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check out what happened when a family gave their in-laws a free place to stay in exchange for babysitting, but things changed when they don’t hold up their end of the bargain.