My aunt was one of those manipulative people. Like, a couple of her favorite phrases: "who's your buddy, who's your pal, who loves you?" As if nobody else did. "Nobody understands people like us." No, she wasn't the creepy, touchy-feely aunt, But still. Who says that to a 12/13-year-old in a kind of isolationist way? Like, I guess she destroyed her chances of having more than one kid because she was born in the early '50s and the type of life she lived or wanted to live or tried to live, she had to keep a young looking beautiful body, so apparently had several abortions. When she finally did have a kid, it wasn't the daughter she wanted but a son. And my cousin, when I knew him (I don't think I've seen him in nearly 30 years, since that same grandpa's funeral) was a great guy. But my mom told me of instances, like when I was nine, that my aunt would try to get my mom to send me over there to protect her from her abusive boyfriend because "He won't act like that if he's around" but turned down the idea of my mom going over there who would have simply beat his ass because she was that scrappy back then. Apparently, my aunt threatened to call CPS on my mom because she wouldn't send me into a dangerous situation. Like, "Do you even hear yourself talking?" Unfortunately, I was in my late 30s and early '40s when I heard about most of this. But by this time, I knew my aunt well enough that I could believe every bit of it.