To inject
a tiny bit of humour into this, I thought of a family feud (which though real is not of the throwing out/ never speaking to again.)

Coming from a large family, there is always a lot of friction between people, there not always being an escape route. I was a complete bookworm and even the slightest interruption to my reading made me grumpier than a bear being taken roughly early in the morning. This was from the age of five or so, resulting in a long standing feud between me and the rest of the family.

It started at a low level. Dressing my brother forcibly in a blue velvet dress, smearing him with lipstick, and tying a lace scarf so tightly round his neck it almost suffocated him was just the start, and he got his revenge years later by growing taller than me.
Not content with this triumph, I turned wrathful eyes upon my next youngest sister. Since physical intervention in our family was so common it couldn't be called feud-like, fights were frequent and unresolved. Thus ire was taken out in unsubtle but not violent ways, like cutting her hair into zigzags (it took years for her to grow her fringe back) and sending her to welcome the guests.

This behaviour got me banished to the top floor of the house (which was a half floor- comprising three rooms and a loft.) Since no-one wanted to climb three stories to get there, it became my reign of terror- pyromanical urges could be indulged in perfect bliss- air freshener prevented discovery mostly.

Basically large families are boiling pots of intrigues and fights and feuds. The only way to get rid of them is to find an outside threat that forces you to unite. Despite the fact that my brother scrawled obscenities in my library books, and I forced him to climb a tree and then pushed him off it, all we needed was some local yokel who disliked our accent to unite, forget petty hatreds and find a common cause. I mean we still do stupid things- he hacked my facebook (lamely I might add) and sometimes hurtful things- reading my blog and telling my parents, and I've dropped him in the shit a couple of times. But we both grew up, and are genuinely there for each other now.

Well we have to be. Blackmail possibilities are terrifying!
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Sat 14 Nov 2009, 23:11, Reply)