Dear June,
I’m a 79-year-old married male with a grown daughter and son, both in their 50s. Our son married a young woman 25 years ago who brought hostility into our lives. She would often not visit on holidays, would never give us the children’s schedules, and essentially excluded us from their lives.
She wouldn’t be rude, just indifferent, and my son took the position that his role was income-producing and hers was family management. They’ve experienced some marital issues resulting in a brief separation.
During a Thanksgiving dinner following a disagreement over the JFK assassination, she walked out and her oldest soon followed after I said the assumption of a lone gunman was “simple-minded.” Now, the problem: After about a year of the silent treatment, I reached out to my son and he countered by ad hominem and specious attacks, half-truths, and exaggeration….